


Echoes of the Colossus

by DragonTamerOne



Category: Shadow of the Colossus
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adding to the Canon, Flashbacks, Gen, Lost Memories, Mystery, Post-Canon, References to Ico, References to The Last Guardian, Reliving the Story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-03
Updated: 2020-03-22
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:14:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 34
Words: 123,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22103902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonTamerOne/pseuds/DragonTamerOne
Summary: After Dormin and Wander's mysterious fate, it could be said that all the old magic left the Forbidden Land. But when he fell, when his foul magic was dispersed, something else awoke. Something just as ancient, but meek and powerless, without even their memories.Dormin was not the only one of his kind, but he had been pivotal in making sure his people were wiped out long ago. This one, by some miracle, had survived.If it could only regain its lost memories, its powers, and the fragments of its soul trapped within the sixteen colossi, then perhaps answers to this land's many mysteries could finally be found.
Relationships: Mono/Wander (Shadow of the Colossus), Original Female Character & Mono, Original Female Character & Original Male Character
Comments: 11
Kudos: 13





	1. Prologue Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey y'all! Welcome to where I spend a long time theorizing in story form about Shadow of the Colossus' wonderful, mysterious world. It's my favorite game to this day, and I always felt like there was so much mystery to it. I wrote this to fill out that mystery, to create something more solid from it. The story follows the same plot as the game, but then diverges. I hope you enjoy it!

Echoes of the Colossus: Prologue  
A long time ago, the humans forbade their feet to walk upon this ground. But that was so long ago, they have forgotten exactly why. Tales, legends exist, but they do not hold the whole story. They are just fragments, reflecting the lightning of past times in shattered pieces. Time has stretched and weathered them, bringing new lies into old truths and distorting the past. We have been forgotten. I have been forgotten.  
I am just an echo.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~★~~☾~~☀~~☾~~★~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Long waves beat against the shore under a windswept sky. White-capped crests crashed against the wet sand, which stubbornly resisted their dragging weight. The sky, from which the wind howled, was overcast with bright clouds, such an unusual sight, as if they glowed from within in the absence of a true sun.  
Tall cliffs rose away from the beach, sheer, unfriendly stone which even the black salamanders hesitated to climb. Here and there, they were pierced by passages, yawning dark paths from here to there. If they could be likened to a maze, they were of no particular danger, for their lengths were mediocre in length and no confident traveller would become lost within them, if they had with them a guide.  
But there were never travellers here. This land was empty. It had been empty for a time beyond the greatest memories of man.  
One could call this land beautiful. There was something impressive to be found in the great, soaring cliffs and the wind that whipped through them. The way the glowing light of the sky reflected off the ocean waves was inspiring, and the grass grew along the shore in plush ripples, broken here and there by a bush or tree, though such growth was sparse.  
However, sitting at the edge of the beach, near the base of a mighty cliff, was an ugly, misshapen lump of stone. Tufts of yellowed, mangled grass grew here and there on it, and soil around it ran up and down its craggy surface in rivlets, as if trying to consume it. It broke the landscape unnaturally, out of place on the flow of the shoreline. It looked as if it didn’t belong.  
The wind was cold across its surface. The sound of the waves echoed faintly around it, as if muffled by fog.  
The wind was cold. The craggy surface shivered involuntarily, dirt spilling from its back.  
It opened its eyes, covered in white film so thick their original color was lost. The white light of the clouds pierced the film, and the stone let out a terrified shriek.  
It was...alive? How could this be? The stone’s mind was full of fog and smoke, unable to recall anything but its last moments. Helpless, immobile on the soil, energy and power stripped from its body in all their forms. Curled in a ball at the feet of a mighty another, fists lifted to strike it down. The stone had faded from consciousness, its final surrender. The last thing its clouded eyes saw was a flash of bright light, believed at that moment to be final cutting of its soul from its body.  
But instead, it was alive again. And it was alone in the place it had fallen.  
 _What of the war? Where are my comrades?_  
They must be dead. Otherwise they would have woken the stone from its unconscious state.  
But then, what of the being it remembered, crouched overhead? What of...him?  
He was going to kill the stone. What fantastic event could’ve stayed his hand? Had it been a friend, plunging in to deflect the blow? But there were no remains of either side, not of the stone’s or it’s enemies. Had any one remained, the stone would be in a different state.  
Despite the thick film over its eyes, it could see, faintly, in outlines, light and shadow. It could see the light reflecting off the waves, and the edge of the lapping water. It was much closer than it had been, in the stone’s last memories.  
Those cloudy eyes widened. The beach had eroded away, a distance that would have taken two thousand years or more, from its foggy estimate. It had been asleep, trapped, for over two thousand years.  
Its breathing began to quicken fearfully, like a trapped animal. Each breath was painful, rasping in its long-unused lungs. It’s eyes darted around, fearing every shadow that crept across the landscape. Surely, something would’ve sensed its awakened, and was coming to kill it.  
But nothing moved. No beings descended upon the shore, or rose from the waves. The shadows were just shadows, benign as could be.  
And the sky was quiet. The wind was the only thing that stirred the clouds, and if the war had been lost to those darkened spirits, for sure this land would be vastly different.  
The stone squeezed its eyes tightly shut, trying to calm itself. Oh, if only it could remember anything beyond its last moments! Anything but the terrible specter that had hovered above, that being of light and shadow, moving to strike the final blow against his downed foe. And how the stone, cowardly and frail, had shut its eyes in fear of watching its own life end, no longer able to take the burning light that emitted from the being’s spectral eyes.  
 _Dormin._ The name came back to the stone, who cowered in reflex, tucking its head against its narrow chest. But no lightning fell from the sky to smite it, and the shadows did not curl into forms, claws extended to rip and tear. An ethereal peace was settled across the land, one that was so solid and sure nothing could be disrupting it.  
Dormin must have been vanquished. There was no other explanation. He would not have suffered the rock to live otherwise.  
It peered once more from its earthly prison, with a spark more of confidence. Perhaps, just perhaps, this land was safe again, and it had just narrowly avoided death.  
But that just couldn’t be it. The answer couldn’t be so simple.  
 _I must figure out what has become of him. If only I could remember more!_  
But it knew this land. That was a different type of memory, an implicit memory, like the memory of how to climb a tree, or wield a sword.  
The stone’s right fist instinctively contracted, grasping for a weapon. But none was to be found; that had been stolen from the stone along with the rest of its powers.  
 _I will not find answers by sitting here in a lump._ That was for sure.  
The stone shuddered, shaking more dirt from its back. It uncurled skinny limbs, and it was revealed not to be a stone at all, but the hunched, emaciated form of some being, some creature unidentifiable. The yellowed grass on its head and neck wasn’t grass at all, but mange-ridden fur, scattered in thin, rough patches above infected, scaly skin. The fur was thickest on the creature’s head, almost resembling the eccentric, mangled hair of some mad-minded humans, those who roamed the streets and yelled nonsense to the sky. The creature was so emaciated, its head seemed too big for its neck, which seemed too long for its shoulders, narrow and boney. Each rib stood out in relief on its sides, and the bones of its hips projected like sharp ridges, ending at its tailless rear.  
The creature stumbled onto four legs, shaking more dirt from itself. It felt the urge to push up from the ground, to walk as it should, on twos, but it had not the strength. So instead, it crawled on fours, moving away from the water and towards the towering cliffs.  
 _I...I remember where I am. And where I should go._ It knew the way, back into the heart of this land, where perhaps there were answers. It entered into one of the clefts in the wall of stone, instinctively shying away from the shadows until they were unavoidable. Once consumed by the dark, it walked even more fearfully, legs bent and cloudy eyes flicking nervously about. Nothing was to be seen or heard, besides the scuttling lizards and whisking wind.  
One eye became caught upon one of the small reptiles. The creature slowed, its mind recalling the taste of food, of feasts from so long ago, of grand proportion. But this lizard was a mere mortal beast, containing none of the grand energy found within the beings of the Higher Lands.  
The Higher Lands. The name rang emptily in the ragged creature’s mind, but somehow it knew its significance. Much like it could recall the broad scope of this earthy ground it walked upon, it could recall vast expanses of beautiful grounds, towering mountains, and lush forests that made up what had once been its home, and the home of its friends. A land to which they could commute, flying so high they pierced the fabric of the sky itself and entered what lay beyond.  
A sharp pain coursed suddenly down the creature’s back, and it whimpered pitifully. Out of instinct, it had tried to stretch its wings, only to feel the ridged, coarse scar tissue running down its back where the appendages should’ve been. It stumbled, forelegs collapsing, and plowed nose-first into the dirt.  
 _Oh, get up...you are as miserably as you were in your last moments,_ the creature weakly chided itself, putting its forefeet back on the ground and shaking its head. Another dark-scaled lizard crawled past its nose, unafraid of the mangy beast. Fully knowing it would do very little to aid its situation, the creature shot out a paw, trying to catch the reptile. It squeaked in surprise and scuttled away, outpacing the creature’s blow. It caught the lizard’s tail in its claws, barely, and the reptile quickly dropped the appendage, fleeing to safety without it.  
 _I am so weak!_ The creature bowed its head shamefully. No longer fast enough to even catch a lonely lizard, it stuck the severed tail into its mouth a chewed mournfully on crooked teeth. The tail was barely more than a morsel, but even so, the creature felt a renewed bit of warmth in its chest from the small meal.  
It pushed itself back to its feet and walked onwards, trying to shake the cold from its bones. The cliffs opened up not long after, revealing a rolling expanse of green plains, dotted with rocks and small cliffs. Larger shelves of stone rose around it, forming looming borders to the north and south. The creature was trying to go north, but its memories told it there were more passages through the thick stone that it could follow. The cliffs would not stand in its way.  
But that would wait, for the creature’s cloudy eyes had lit upon the shape of something more interesting. A shrine, situated within the landscape, of roughly cylindrical composition, rising to a point upon which one could stand and observe their surroundings. From its rear projected a small arch, completing the simple asymmetry of the structure.  
 _Of what..?_ The small building was weathered and crawling with mosses and vines, but the ancient magic situated around it had prevented any more intensive wearing. The creature approached it with caution, not quite remembering what the shrine was for, but drawn to its energy nevertheless.  
 _The ancient humans...they must’ve communicated with us through these._ Its mind couldn’t grasp the original function, but it still held an understanding of the building, recognizing it for what it was. It reached one, crooked paw forth and rested it upon the inscribed surface of the shrine, where the energy was most intense. It was warm against the creature’s infected skin, and it inspired it to hold its head a little higher. If these shrines still stood, free from the destruction of war, then perhaps more remained to remind it of its past.  
Another lizard scuttled by. To the creature’s surprise, this one had a silver tail that almost seemed to glow with an ethereal light. Curiosity caught, it stalked after the lizard as it latched onto the outer wall of the shrine and began to climb. This one, unlike its all-black cousins, seemed more wary of other beasts.  
The creature circled the shrine, watching for the lizard to return closer to the ground. Eventually, it heard the patter of footsteps and saw the small reptile crawl out from the arch of the shrine, moving closer to the ground. With a grunt, the creature launched itself at the shrine, paws reaching. The lizard squeaked and bolted, dodging the strike. The creature managed to change its course of attack just in time, paw slamming down on the lizard’s back. It cut off the panicked squeaks by clamping its jaws around the lizard’s head, crushing its skull.  
 _Ah..._ Feeling a little more satisfied with the outcome of this hunt, the creature crouched down, taking the lizard’s body in its forepaws. Without much ceremony, it consumed the entire reptile, bones, scales, and all. The silvery tail was especially delicious, faintly reminding the creature of some exotic meat it had consumed in the Higher Lands, the leg of some long-lost magical beast.  
Courage renewed, it set out once more towards the northern cliffs, moving at a steady but stumbling pace. It moved once again into the shadows of the stone, following a winding path through the cliffs, past the yawning entrance of a cave. To its delight, just north of that point there was another shrine, looking identical to the last. It spent a moment in the energy of the shrine, eyes lidded and face turning towards the inscribed surface, like a cat basking in a sunbeam. But time was not to be wasted, and it soon moved on, into a narrow passage between the rising cliffs.  
The path was not long, and soon the land began to open up again, sunlight filtering down to the earth. The stone walls peeled away, and a green expanse of land opened up, rolling plains broken by stones and short cliffs, the almost unreal landscape fading away into the distance. The creature’s eyes, as weak as they were, could not see the end of the landscape. Everything faded into a blur, into shadow, the farther away it got. But its eyes could see far enough to reveal the shape of the place it sought; the massive, rising structure of an ancient building, a building once grand and busy, but now crumbling and quiet. The Shrine, the one Shrine in which it had spent many of its days. Though how it had spent those days, it remembered not.  
It almost had the shape of a sharp mountain, spires and plunging cliffs, worn and weathered by time. The creature’s eyes couldn’t see the details of the place, but it could easily imagine the vines and moss that crawled upon it. It was outlined powerfully against the glowing sky, and even as it watched, and eagle cried and soared across its silhouette, wings spread wide on the wind.  
The creature quickened its lumbering pace, destination now in its sights. Excitement coursed through its body, a spark of hope at what may lie within. Answers, perhaps. A safe place to rest, hopefully. And to find out what had happened to Dormin, and with him the creature’s many powers…  
It crossed the expanse of green grass, wind sweeping after it. Two wide staircases led into the body of the Shrine, between them another of those inscribed tablets, this one radiating faint energy just like the others. The creature slowed its approach, wanting to pay the Shrine its proper respects. This was a holy place, a place of knowledge and wisdom. It would do no good to rush into it like a headstrong mule.  
It placed its forepaw, claws dirty and crooked, on the first step. The sight of such ancient and beautiful stone set upon by the horrible appendage made the creature shrink, shoulders hunching. But there was nothing to be done about its horrendous appearance, so it continued upwards.  
The staircase was topped by a grand arch, of which there were many, making up the front face of the Shrine. The stairs sloped into a ramp, which blended into the great hall of the Shrine. Here, between the pairs of pointed arches, there was a wide altar, empty even of dust. The room stretched away down the hall, lined by alcloves, eight on each side. The creature had been counting them, trying to remember if their number had changed, when a completely unexpected sound reached its muffled ears.  
The footfalls of some being, much heavier than that of a lizard.  
The creature, crouched at the top of the ramp, froze fearfully, head whipping around to face the length of the great hall. At first, it thought it was seeing a ghost, but as its eyes adjusted to the dark, it came to see that it was faced by none other than a human woman, clothed in a long-sleeved, lilac dress with green and darker purple details. She stared at the hideous creature crouched in front of her, dark eyes wide with shock. The creature stared back through clouded eyes, finding itself frozen in place. The woman moved first, lifting the previously-unseen bow in her hand and drawing the arrow back to her cheek.  
~


	2. Prologue Part 2

“Don’t shoot!” the creature cried, throwing its forepaws into the air. It’s voice, rough and lacking any sort of gendered sound, grated painfully in its throat, like it was swallowing sand. It shook fearfully, unable to keep its arms up above its head. Slowly, it lowered them, crooked fingers feeling over the rough contours of its face; its protruding cheekbones, hollowed eyes, and short snout full of craggly, yellowed teeth.  
“I know I’m hideous,” it whispered painfully. The woman had not moved, her bow still drawn and aimed to kill. The creature shrank beneath the iron in her gaze.  
“Who are you,” she demanded curtly, not lowering her bow.  
“I-” words failed the creature. “I...I don’t know. I don’t remember.”  
“You don’t remember?” the woman’s words were still harsh, but there was a bit of softness to them. Of sympathy.  
“I don’t remember,” the creature repeated, chest tight with desperation. In its current state, with its powers gone from its body, a single shot of that drawn bow would be enough to kill it, to put it out of its misery. Without answers, without certainty that the world was safe from the plague of Dormin.  
“Please,” it repeated, almost begging, “I’m not here to hurt you. I did not know you were here...I did not know anyone was here. I expected this place to be abandoned.”  
The woman cautiously lowered her bow, somewhat convinced by the pleading in the creature’s words. The emaciated beast was of no threat, as weak as it appeared, despite its frame indicating that it was much larger than a human in size.  
“I only remember my last moments,” the creature repeated. “There was a war...I was fighting in the war. I was struck down and stripped of my powers. But something happened, something that prevented my final death. I know not what. And I remember no more, until this moment I have awoken. Two thousand years have passed, if not more.”  
There was silence for a moment. Then, the woman asked, “Are you a god?”  
“I-” the creature opened its mouth again, and paused, mulling over the term. It would have denied the title, but humans and other beings used different words for the same things. So it responded, “I reckon that I am.”  
The woman regarded it with caution. “Who stripped you of your powers? No mortal could wound a god in such a way.”  
“It was another,” the creature replied, shuddering. “His name was Dormin.”  
Terrible familiarity flitted across the woman’s face, and she took a step back. The creature shrank further, fearing that the bow would be drawn against it with the speaking of that name, so intense the response created. But the woman did not lift her bow; instead, her face concentrated, trying to piece something together with knowledge the creature lacked.  
 _Oh, if only I had my powers, I could peer into her thoughts!_ The creature lamented. The silence stretched out, making its ears feel even more muffled.  
“I spoke with someone named Dormin,” the woman finally said, gaze fixed somewhere in the distance. “He told me he was fulfilling a promise. He...he sounded like he had been through a struggle. And I...woke up. Here.”  
“Here?” the creature repeated, voice confused. “Where had you been before?”  
The woman took a long time to answer. Then, she said, “I had been dead.”  
The creature recoiled, neck scrunching into its shoulders. Brought back from the dead; that could only be Dormin’s work, he the only one who would go against such sacred and long-standing natural law. He who they had gone to war against because of his decision to do so…  
Another faint, foggy memory came to the front of its mind. The reason for the war, for all the fighting and cataclysm. Dormin had broken the most respected law of this world and all others, doing so in secret until he was exposed. Using it for his own advantage. Such a crime could not go unpunished.  
Anger flew through its chest. For a fleeting moment, it considered pouncing upon the woman and slaying her, to return things to their natural order. But urge passed faster than it came, for it was of no fault of the woman’s. The dead did not barter their way back to life; the living did that on their behalf. There must have been someone else involved.  
“Are you alone here?” the creature asked. Someone must have brought her here. To Dormin…  
That begged the question: what had happened to Dormin?  
The woman shook her head. Slowly, carefully, she reached over her shoulder with her free hand. She grasped the cloth of the sash crossing her body, and brought the bundle upon her back across her shoulder. Swaddled in the cloth was a sleeping human infant, though this one was unlike any infant the creature had encountered before, because it had horns.  
The creature cocked its head, confused. A horned human? It did not repulse it; it had encountered far more hideous beings in its lifetime, and given its current state, it had no right to show disgust towards any other beings.   
“Where...did you find him?” it asked after a moment, voice shocked.  
“In the basin, beneath the spiral stairs,” she replied, gesturing behind her to where the hallway ended. “My- a horse led me to him.”  
“A horse?” the creature questioned. “A...normal horse?”  
The woman nodded. “She is upstairs, in the garden atop this place. She was grievously injured, though by what I can only imagine.”  
“The horse who brought you here, to this place” the creature said. “But of the rider?”  
The woman looked downcast, shoulders slumped. “There is no sign.”  
The creature was silent, looking away from the saddened woman. Eyes cast across the hall’s alcoves, each one full of an irregular pile of stone and dirt. There were patterns carved on the stones…  
“What do you know of this place?” the creature asked, voice hushed.  
“It is forbidden,” the woman replied. “None can step foot here. Under the pain of death.”  
 _Forbidden._ A forbidden land. The land once of the creature’s people, the only place on the mortal earth where they could walk. Humans, who long ago had inhabited it, had forbade themselves from here.  
“Why?” the creature asked.  
The woman shrugged. “I don’t know.”  
The creature’s eyes turned back towards the horned infant. It radiated faint, strange energy, something that made it seem not quite...normal. Beyond just the horns, it seemed unhuman.  
“I must look around,” it said finally, knowing no more was to be gained here. “Dormin...if he is roaming these lands, then shadows are upon us. But I do not see how that could be, since surely he would have sensed my existence, and come to cut me down in my weakened state. But I can’t fathom what else could have happened to him…”  
It approached the first alcove, eyes upon the pile of decrepit rocks. Nothing to see but rocks…  
It reached one forepaw out, towards a piece that somewhat resembled an eye. It looked like...its eye.  
Its claws contacted the surface, and a faint pulse of energy radiated through its body. Its eyes widened, and it became acutely aware of some point in the distance, atop a short cliff visible from the steps of the Shrine. The energy felt warm and familiar.  
 _It is my energy!_ The creature realized with a start. _I am feeling...a piece of my soul!_  
It recoiled from the stone in shock, mouth hanging open. With haste, it scuttled to the next alcove, and the next, setting its paws on the broken stones. With each one, a new pulse of energy manifested itself on the horizon, a precise location at which a piece of her soul, containing her lost powers, was located. When she reached the sixteenth alcove, she gazed upon the most undamaged stones, and their original form was revealed in her mind. Idols, sixteen idols, each one a different form, lining the great hall. As she placed her paws on the last stone, she felt the brightest pulse of energy of them all, a pulse that could only belong to the heart of her soul, the piece of her that granted her some kind of immortality.  
 _My powers...they are all here, within this land._ Had Dormin scattered them about, locked away? But why? In possession of the pieces of her soul, he would have become even more powerful. He would never have given up those powers willingly, nor would he have any good reason to lock them away. Something must have happened.  
Whatever had occurred that had saved the creature’s life, so long ago, must have scattered the pieces of its soul across this land.  
But then, why the idols? Why did those pieces of its soul feel so...connected to them?   
Someone had brought a dead woman to this land, to bargain with Dormin to bring her back to life. So Dormin must have yet been living, strong enough to be accessible to a mortal. But something must have trapped him here, keeping him within these lands. Otherwise, he would have ran rampant across the known world. Something must have defeated him, but unable to kill him, trapped him away.  
 _Fractured into sixteen parts, for sixteen idols._ His soul split into small enough pieces, Dormin would’ve been rendered near to powerless. Sixteen pieces would be enough to trap and render any entity, though more would have been preferred. Whoever had done so to Dormin had either been uneducated, or unable to gather the energy to split him any more.  
“What is it?” the woman asked. In its discoveries, the creature had begun to ignore the mortal, entranced as it was by the rows of alcoves. It started, remembering her existence, and turned around quickly. “It is my soul, or rather the pieces of it. They are scattered around this land; I can feel their presence when I touch the remains of these idols.” It kicked one of the loose stones with a foot. “Dormin was trapped in this place, his soul split into sixteen pieces once represented by these idols. And now, they are broken...and he is gone.”  
“You mean he...escaped?” the woman asked, worry creeping into her voice.  
The creature shook its head. “He could not have, otherwise I would not be standing here, and things would be much different. Something...he must have encountered some obstacle. He would have been weaker, just recently having reunited his fragments. Though what could’ve stopped him, I do not know…”  
“And what of this child?” the woman asked, holding out the infant in her arms. “What is he?”  
The creature shrugged helplessly. “The knowledge to explain such an anomaly escapes me.”  
They stood in silence, the creature’s head bowed. After some time had passed, the woman looked back to the pathetic being. “Here, you should come to the garden and rest. I can provide you with something to eat.”  
The creature lifted its head exhaustedly, unable to drum up the energy to inform the woman that mortal food would be of no use to it. She strode away, and it followed like an obedient dog.  
They entered the room at the end of the great hall, spiral staircase soaring above them. The basin upon the floor was empty; the creature felt a spark of recognition, a faint picture fleeting through her mind. The basin, once full, with many ancient beings gathered around it. Including it. Including Dormin.  
The memory was gone as fast as it had came. The creature ascended the spiral staircase no more enlightened as it had been at the bottom. The stair ended in a projecting path, receding towards a sunlit exit. They stepped out of the Shrine, upon the end of a crumbling bridge that once soared over the landscape, stretching just beyond the creature’s vision to where the high cliffs were. Another memory came back to it, another fleeting picture. Humans, on horses, riding across the bridge, carrying ceremonial banners, trumpets sounding. An ancient lord, come again to this land to confer with its inhabitants.  
“The bridge is gone,” it gasped. The bridge had been the only way in and out of this land on foot; the cliffs were far too steep and high to climb. One could navigate to the southern coast by boat, but the waters were treacherous and said to be filled with monsters.  
Realization hit the creature. It was trapped here, as was the woman and her horned child. Despite the situation, the latter seemed quite calm.  
 _What a level-headed mortal she must be,_ the creature wondered. _To be brought back from the dead, alone save for a horned infant. And trapped in an unknown land, but yet continues in such a collected manner._  
Its eyes, though foggy, could tell that the woman had made her bow by herself, the few arrows she had too. It must have been a few days, then, since she had awoken.  
There was a path to their right, leading up and around the edge of the Shrine. The woman climbed it confidently, the infant slung again over her back. The creature followed, absorbed in thought and trying to remember more of its moments within the halls below them. Once they reached the garden, however, its attention was redirected.  
 _Oh, what a beautiful place!_ There were many trees here, lush with growth. Bushes and grasses dotted the landscape, which, despite its enclosed state, seemed quite sizable. Birds flitted around in the trees, white doves. They flew in and out of the rooftop garden unfettered, able to leave to the open sky whenever they pleased. A chipmunk ran past, grass waving in its passage.  
 _There are even deer!_ Memories of the taste of venison from a golden-antlered buck echoed in the creature’s mind. These fawns, though, were of no mystical background. They ran through the trees, chasing each other merrily.  
A curious neigh sounded through the garden, and a large, black mare came limping towards them, heavily favoring her left hind leg, which she refused to put weight on. Despite her injuries, she seemed bright and alert, ears perked forwards.  
“Hello, Agro,” the woman greeted the horse, patting its nose. The mare nickered, ears flicking around. She watched the creature carefully, but seemed unafraid of it. The beast had obviously seen other things much worse in her past.  
“Her leg…” the creature had noticed the grievous injury. “That looks to be a horrific injury.”  
“I tried setting it,” the woman told her, crouching down next to the mare’s injured leg. The creature noticed the branches and bindings around it, a crude cast. “But I’m no healer, and her injury indeed seems bad.”  
“She has the gaze of only the bravest of beasts,” the creature said. “Whoever was her master, she served them faithfully. What trials they must have gone through to free Dormin, I cannot imagine.”  
“Were the pieces of his soul not trapped in those idols?” the woman asked. “What do you mean by trials?”  
The creature shook its head. “Simply destroying the idols would be too easy. There would have been tasks, trials, that must have been completed. Tasks designed, at their birth, to be impossible.” It took a shaky breath. “Dormin was cunning with his words. Even the impossible he could make seem not so…someone so desperate as to risk death to come here would have been willing to take the terms he set, no matter their cost. And the cost he would surely have lied about.”  
The woman had moved away a little, still within earshot next to the length of a fallen tree. She lifted a fleshy fruit from behind the log and struck it against the bark. The fruit split down the middle, and she returned to the creature, offering it a half.  
“These are from the garden,” she said. “I had a little time to explore the land around this temple as well, and I gathered some different fruits from outside, if those would be more to your taste…”  
The creature did not think the origin of the fruits would matter, as mortal as they were. It took the half in its paws, trying to be delicate as it took a bite of the flesh. It was sour and almost repulsive, so much so it couldn’t avoid making a face.  
“Is it not good?” the woman asked.   
The creature, not wanting to seem rude, shook its head. “No, it is fine…”  
The woman took a bite of her own half. “I find it quite good…”  
The creature lifted the fruit to try it again, and then put it down with a sigh. “It is horribly sour to me. I am sorry.”  
“Of no worry,” the woman replied, taking back the half and standing up. “It does not seem to spoil, as long as it is free of dirt. And I have some of the other fruits, like I said.”  
She produced one of these other fruits, large and greener in color. As soon as she split it upon the log, a sweet smell drifted to the creature’s nose, and it leaned forwards in anticipation.  
The woman noticed the creature’s movements, and perhaps smiled a little, though one could not tell with how her long hair blew around her face. She handed the creature the two halves of the fruit; the smell was so enticing to the beast that it could barely make itself eat in a proper manner.  
 _This...this cannot be mortal fruit. I can feel its energy flowing through my veins. Did we, some long time ago, drop holy seeds onto this land, so the humans may have a little of higher food?_  
“This is very good,” it said, not wanting to forget its manners. The woman had sat down on the log, watching it eat.  
“You don’t remember your name, do you?” she asked quietly.  
The creature shut its eyes, shaking its head. “I don’t.”  
The woman was silent for a moment, looking away. Then, she said, “My name is Mono.”  
The creature chewed its food thoughtfully. “That is a pretty name. I like it.” It knew not what else to say.  
“You need a name,” Mono continued. “Perhaps it will help you remember your old identity, to construct a new one…”  
The creature nodded slowly, consuming the last of the delicious fruit. It felt sated, and the aching was leaving its bones.  
“I know not what to call myself,” it admitted. “What is there to signify me? I am ratted, mangled. I am without my weapon, my armor. I am without my wings and my powers. Where once I was a being of earth and sky, I am now nothing.”  
“You said you liked my name,” Mono told her. “That is something.”  
“It would be a dishonor upon you to give myself your name,” the creature replied. “You are far above my current status.”  
“Make something else out of it,” Mono said, unworried and calm. “Something that is singular to you.”  
The creature was silent, head bowed. “I do not know, my lady.”  
“Monolith,” Mono said to it, voice confident. “That will be your new name.”  
The creature lifted its head. “Monolith,” it echoed. “I guess it is suitable. I will accept your generous suggestion,” it lied. It felt empty, worthless. Worthless things didn’t have names.  
~


	3. Prologue Part 3

Mono stood, done with her meal. “Where does the first piece of your soul lie, Monolith? Night never falls here, so there is no light to waste, but I see no reason in delaying your quest.”  
The creature nodded slowly. “There are pieces close to this Shrine. The first of the idols points me directly south of here, only a few minutes’ walk.”  
“What do you think we will encounter, where the piece of your soul lies?” Mono asked.  
The creature shrugged. “I could not know. But if my soul was trapped with the pieces of Dormin, then I fear I may face similar trials in getting them back...but we shall see.” It squared its shoulders. “There is no gain to be found in idleness.”  
They exited the garden, leaving behind the injured horse, the fawns, the chipmunks, and the doves. A few of the birds flew past them as they descended the pathway into the Shrine, calling to each other in pure voices. The creature heard the horned infant babble behind her. He was reaching for the birds with a chubby hand.  
 _At least the child is calm, and seems free of distress._ His place in the puzzle had not yet been found, but something in the creature’s chest was convinced it could find an answer to it all.  
Mono was quiet, following the creature as it descended the ramp and the staircase leading out of the Shrine. She observed the landscape with quiet grace, a gaze slowly becoming familiar with these surroundings.  
“It is this way,” the creature said, pointing her nose towards the cliffs directly to their south. “It is very close, for the signal is strong.”  
It lead the way, wishing to move a little faster but not wanting to leave Mono behind. Furthermore, it did not know if it could sustain anything beyond a slow trot, as weak as it was.  
The cliffs rose above them, and the creature’s eyes found what looked like ruins at their base. It stopped once it ascended the worn staircase, sniffing the air.  
“Is this where your soul is?” Mono asked, sounding unsure.  
It shook its head. “No, it is above us. We must climb these cliffs to get to it.”  
Mono looked hesitant, but the emotion was brief. Her face was determined as she surveyed their surroundings; after just a moment, she left the creature’s side and grasped onto the thick vines that hung down from the wall to their right. Without a word, she started to climb.  
 _Well, alright._ The creature was admittedly a little shocked; it had not expected the mortal woman to be so willing to climb the cliff, with or without the infant on her back. With no other choice, the creature pushed itself up to follow.  
The vines led up to a rough path, broken in places. Mono was facing the first jump, a ways along the path, gauging its distance. She squared her shoulders and took a running start, soaring over the gap and landing with a stumble.  
“I am not sure if this is a good idea for you, my lady…” The creature cautioned, but drifted off as Mono flashed her a steely gaze. The woman was determined to make it to the top of the cliff. Without another look back, she jumped and grabbed the edge of the path above them, pulling herself up with a grunt. The horned child on her back was staring with creepy eyes.  
There was another jump, which they made, and a fallen pillar, which they had to ungainly crawl under. The creature’s emaciated shoulders scraped painfully against the stone surface, but it gritted its crooked teeth and kept crawling. If a mortal woman, burdened by an infant, could do this, then so could it. Mono was holding the child in her arms as she crawled, unworried about the dirt she got on her dress. She stood up and jumped again, pulling herself higher into the ruins.  
A heavy, square column stood in their way, the path continuing beyond it.  
“My lady,” the creature repeated, catching up to the mortal woman as it ungainly pulled itself up the cliff. “Please, allow me to go first. I can help you across.”  
Mono hesitated, but then stood aside, allowing the mangy creature to step up to the spire. It bent its legs and jumped onto the face of the stone, hands and feet grasping at the carved ledge that ran around its surface. It edged around the first corner of the column, then the second, teeth gritted in resistance to the strain on its fingers.  
The path upwards was behind it now, too far to step to. It would have to jump.  
It planted its feet against the vertical surface, bending its knees. With a great heave, it pushed off of the column, twisting as its hands reached for the edge of the path. It landed beyond the edge, safely on solid ground.  
It turned. Mono was already on the column, shuffling around the outer edge. Her face was contorted with strain, and she could move at only a crawl.  
“My lady,” the creature said worriedly, reaching its hands out. “I can assist you.”  
Mono was looking away from her, at the stone surface of the column. She edged into position painfully slow, bare feet splayed against the stone. Her gaze flashed over her shoulder, gauging the distance to the path.  
The creature could clearly see that the mortal woman was afraid. She needed to turn fully, to remove a hand from the stone, in order to make the jump. But she would not, in her fear, which had now chosen to overcome her.  
 _I cannot let her fall!_ it laid flat against the ground, shoulders beyond the edge of the path. Its arms were outstretched, reaching across the gap towards the woman. “My lady, I will catch you.”  
Mono still didn’t move; the creature could hear her harsh breathing. If she waited any longer, she would lose her grip and fall.  
“My lady!” it repeated, urgent this time.  
With a bit of scream, Mono jumped off the column, half-twisting to try and orient herself towards the path. The creature grabbed her arms, fingers locking around her biceps. With a great heave, it pulled itself backwards, dragging the woman onto the path with it. It quickly let go of her, drawing itself into a small and apologetic ball.  
“I am sorry I had to touch you, my lady,” it whispered quietly. “But I did not want you to fall.”  
“It is fine,” Mono replied, pushing herself somewhat shakily to her feet. “We must keep moving.”  
They had reached the top of the ruins, an expanse of grass opening up in front of them. A few trees lined the edges, but most of the space was open, save for a large shape in the center of the field, to which the creature felt itself drawn.  
“It is there,” it gasped, loping past the trees and towards the shape. “I can feel it.”  
It left Mono behind, loping faster than the woman could walk, and she chose not to run. The creature reached the edge of the massive mound and skidded to a stop, struck by the size of the object.  
“And what is this?” it mused, eyes wide. It reached a hand forth and wiped the dust from a stone surface it could see protruding from the mound.  
Upon contact with the stone, the creature felt a pulse of energy echo through its body. The piece of its soul was within the mound, along with many others.  
 _The others who from which Dormin stole powers!_ It bowed its head mournfully. So there had been other beings, like it, who had suffered its fate. And they Dormin had slain.  
 _There is more..._ there were other fragments of souls, ones who it felt no patriotism towards. They were souls that belonged to its enemies.  
 _Souls that I stole from them, before I too, brought them to death._ So it had not been above the atrocious actions of soul-stealing. But they were the souls of sworn enemies, so no one was the wiser.  
Mono had caught up to the creature, standing with it in the shadow of the mound. “What is it?” she asked, eyes sweeping over the tangle of earth and stone.  
“A container,” the creature replied. “A container for trapping souls.”  
“And how will you get them out?” Mono asked.  
The creature swept more dirt from the stone surface. It revealed beneath an empty eye, matching the broken eye of the idol in the Shrine.  
“The souls within can only be released once the beast is slain,” it said quietly, lost in thought.  
“It looks as if it was already slain,” Mono sounded confused. “You cannot kill a mound of earth.”  
“These were once alive, powered by the fragments of Dormin’s soul and ancient magic,” it said, eyes shut. It was looking within the stone, reading its stories. “And it was slain by the one who wished to revive you. In doing so, Dormin’s soul was released, piece by piece. The fragments of his soul, though broken, were strong enough to extract themselves from their vessel and transmit into another being.”  
“And your soul was not released?” the woman asked. “Why?”  
It dipped its head. “Dormin’s soul is strong. It was able to seal the vessels behind it in a cloak of shadow, and prevent anything else from escaping, if anything could. Even my soul may not have been able.”  
“And so what can be done?” Mono pressed. “Can you not free your soul from this corpse?”  
It shook its head. “This is ancient magic, strong and true. It will protect all it holds, and in this form, it is not accessible to this world. I must bring this beast back to life, and slay it by my own hand. Then, I will be able to call my soul forth from its hide.”  
Mono was silent, pondering the situation. Despite its gravity, she seemed composed.  
“You must have a weapon capable of slaying such a monster,” she finally said. “You cannot break open stone with your bare hands.”  
“If I had my sword,” the creature groaned, hunching its shoulders. “With that blade, I struck down enemies like they were made of paper. I cut the hearts of higher beings from their bodies, and with them nourished my strength. It would make quick work of these monsters.”  
“There are many things hidden around this land,” Mono told her. “I made my bow from the branches of young trees, and the sinews of the salamanders. There are reeds for lashings, and stones for arrowheads.”  
“I cannot fight a colossus with just a bow,” it replied. “I must have something stronger in my grasp...but I believe I know how to create such a thing, in the absence of my blade.”  
“And where do we have to go to find the ingredients for such a thing?” the woman asked.  
It turned away from the earthen mound and its stony eye. “There are many ruins across this land, relics of their ancient inhabitants. I know of one where we may find something strong enough to pierce the colossi’s hides. But it is a distance to walk, my lady.”  
“Of no matter,” Mono replied stoically. “I am able.”  
The creature dipped its head respectfully, knowing it could not convince the mortal otherwise. It led the way back to the cliffside ruins, picking down them with the greatest care. One or twice, it offered its assistance to the woman, but she always refused unless it was direly needed, preferring to navigate the terrain on her own.  
Once back below the looming cliff, the ragged creature led the mortal woman to the east, where the great cleft in the cliff that it had first entered through existed. The wind whistled briskly through the gap, whisking bits of dust into the sky.  
“Have you been this way, my lady?” the creature asked Mono, head lowered submissively.  
“No,” she replied, eyes darting about. “I feared getting lost within the great walls of stone.”  
“I have not forgotten the lay of these lands,” the creature promised. “We will not get lost, my lady.”  
Eventually, the ravine widened before them, revealing more expanses of high, grey cliffs and whitish skies. Their grassy path split around the mound that rose beyond them, wreathed in faint mist. Proud, rocky spires jutted from the landscape, giving it an uneven and wild appearance.  
“There lies a cave,” the creature said, pushing its nose forwards. “Through it lies a miniature paradise, a secluded retreat decorated by lavish growth and ancient architecture. Its name is forgotten in my mind, but it was once a place of relaxation for my kind. And at the center of this place, there lies a great building, an amphitheater of sorts. What it was used for, I cannot remember, but it was a grand place where many could gather.”  
“Does it contain an armory?” Mono questioned. “It does not seem like the kind of place that would.”  
The creature shook its mangy head. “No corner of this land contains an armory. Our weapons were as much of a part of us as your hands are to you.”  
It could see the cave entrance, a yawning mouth crawling with ivy and moss. Feeling encouraged, it picked up its pace, ambling across the plain. Its bones stood out sharply under its decrepit skin, every rolling motion of joints visible. It seemed more like a toy made of sticks and leather than a living being.  
The travellers entered into the cave, the light of the glowing clouds quickly falling away. The creature’s eyes could not pierce the dark, but it knew the way, following the curves and the contours of the stone until it opened up yet again. Indeed, what lay before them was a small paradise, draped in thick mosses and stone. They stood on an elevated path, above a crystal pool into which a glorious waterfall fell. The thundering sound of the water was muffled in the creature’s ears, as if hearing it through layers of cotton.  
“The path down to the pool is gone…” it observed sadly. “One can no longer recede into those relaxing depths.”  
Broken pillars lined the path, which zigged and zagged in the most random fashion. Mono frowned upon seeing it.  
“Is this a bridge your people built?” she asked. “What sense is there, in building a crooked bridge?”  
The creature shrugged helplessly. “I cannot recall, my lady, if this is indeed a bridge, or a natural spit of land. And it is so worn and overgrown, its past self has been lost.”  
They continued over the bridge, the mortal woman absorbed in the sights of the miniature paradise, now so unkempt, but still awe-inspiring. The path led them through another, shorter cave, and before them lay the high-roofed cavern, in which the ruins lay. Sunlight pierced through holes in the natural roof, the beams scattering across the worn stones like spots of fire.  
The ruin itself looked sunken into the ground, sitting on an island surrounded by water. Vines crawled its lengths, over the ornately-carved stone. The creature paced to the edge of the shore, knowing where it could find the entrance to the place.  
It looked back at the mortal woman. “Can you swim, my lady? The water is deep in places.”  
Mono looked hesitant, once again. “I was never taught…”  
“Please, then, wait here,” the creature proposed. “The crossing is narrow, but you are burdened by an infant.”  
The woman nodded, moving to take a seat on the shore. “He will be hungry soon, anyways. I will stay here and await your return.”  
The creature nodded submissively and turned away, trotting into the water. It winced as the cold washed over its infected skin, the feeling unusually sharp. It paddled its paws, barely able to keep its head above the surface to breathe. When it pulled itself onto the small island halfway across the channel, it shook itself almost irritably, the feeling of the water bothering it.  
 _I cannot even handle a stagnant pool!_  
It crossed the remaining distance, pulling itself onto the island on which the ruin stood, quietly waiting. It strode over to the yawning entrance, firelight flickering from within.  
 _There are pieces missing. Ruins._ As if this place was shaken by a great storm. Steps led deeper into the structure, walls containing braziers with everlasting flames. Even after thousands of years, the magic that had run through this place was still here. There was a hole in the roof on the left, letting light spill through.  
The creature continued deeper into the structure, where the light faded away. The stairs ended in a small room with no obvious exit.  
 _The ramp has fallen away,_ the creature realized, observed the sole surviving pillar, which had once flanked the path onwards. It walked to the pillar and reared up, grasping one of the carved edges that ran around it. With a hop, it ascended the pillar, reaching as high as it could go, where the structure narrowed to a large brazier, full of warming fire. The flickering flames filled the creature with courage, and it hopped from the pillar onto the remnants of the higher path.  
It followed the path onwards, down another set of darkened stairs, and into the great amphitheater itself. The round room spun away on either side of it, repeated sets of barred windows scrolling away. Great chunks were missing from some of the floors, as if a giant had swung its fists through them. The floor of the amphitheater was far below, each floor stacked on the next like the layers of a cake.  
The creature walked to the closest window, observing the far drop to the grassy floor. In the center of that place, there was another great lump of earth and stone, calling to the creature. Another piece of its soul lay here. It knew that stairs led between each level, including the lowest, reaching the open floor. It could reach that earthen corpse, but that was not what it had came here for.  
It pad around the floor, to where the great chunk had been carved away. The break had shattered through some of the windows, and the metal bars lining them had been broken, revealing sharp ends.  
There were broken windows on every level, with more of the sharpened bars. If the creature could manage to pull them free of the stone masonry, and lash them to stout branches with strong vines…  
It was the crudest and most ramshackle of all weapons. But metal was stronger and sharper than stone, and this was the best place it could think of to find sharp metal.  
The broken bars were hanging over the broken abyss. The creature crawled to the nearest edge, reaching carefully to see if it could grasp one of the bars. It could, and it wrapped its paw around the surface resolutely. The bar was already crooked in its base from the great force that had shattered it, and with a stiff tug, it moved a little in its housing. The creature ground its teeth together and continued to pull, until it had removed the whole length from the stone, pieces breaking away.  
It weighed the bar in its paws, admiring its broken length. The builders of this place had fired these bars with strong metals; whatever had broken them had been of monumental power. The tips were jagged from shearing off, by no means skillfully done, but they were sharp.  
 _I must gather all I can from here._ Such crude weapons would break easily, when wielded against stone giants. But it was the only way to answers, and redemption.  
The creature reached for another bar, but it was too far from the edge. Disgruntled, it continued around the round floor, exhausting it of all its resources. It moved on to the next, and the next, piling its cache of broken bars at the base of each stairwell, ready to carry back up, until it reached the floor.  
Its eyes were drawn to the mound of earth, and, despite itself, it moved onto the grassy stretch to observe it closer. The mound was much smaller than the last, but still of respectable size. Bits of stone stuck out at odd angles, the remains of legs and feet. The dead beast appeared to be on its back.  
 _I cannot linger._ The piece of its soul was pulling strongly, longing to be freed. But there were no branches down here with which to make the crude spears, and the creature could not hold the bars in its hands, the metal too slippery in its thin fingers.  
 _I will return for you,_ it promised the piece, though it could not hear or understand. With a heavy heart, it returned to the stairwells and began to haul its cache back to the top, bit by bit.  
 _I can return here, once I have more strength._ There were still plenty of broken bars in the ruin, too far for the creature to reach. Once it was more sure of its agility and resilience, it could pull those bars from their foundations with the weight of its body, and catch the next ledge in its fall.  
Its pile of bars was becoming too big to carry neatly. It held as many as it could in its mouth, but there were yet more, and it shuffled awkwardly on three legs, with the rest tucked under its arm. Once it reached the top of the ruin, facing the staircase out, it dropped them with a snort.  
“Blasted cargo,” it grumbled aloud. It could try to carry them in its arms, walking as it should on its hind feet, but it hesitated to do so. Had it the strength?  
It gathered the bundle of bars in its arms, crouched on the stone floor. As it stood, it felt its joints popping and complaining. Its back hunched, unwilling to be drawn upright. But the going was faster as it shuffled up the stairs, ignoring the soreness in its muscles.  
 _The more I work my sore bones, the more resilient they will become, once they remember their old ways._ The creature felt determination in its heart. Pathetic it would be to be beaten by the task of carrying an armful of metal bars...  
It reached the top of the stairs, overlooking the room with the fancy brazier. It slid somewhat ungracefully over the edge of the platform and dropped to the floor with a grunt.  
When it finally emerged back into the sunlight at the entrance of the building, it blinked against the glare. Its eyes adjusted slowly, almost painfully so, like mortal eyes. It shook its head with irritation and walked from the temple.  
Mono was seated on the shore, holding the strange infant in her arms. She looked up as the creature approached, and replaced the baby into the carrier on her back.  
“An interesting idea,” she observed the metal bars held in the creature’s arms as she stood up. “Though their edges are rough and jagged at best.”  
“I may be reduced, so that I am almost mortal, but I still possess echoes of my strength,” the creature replied, suddenly aware of how much larger it was than the mortal woman. It towered over her; feeling self-conscious, it took a step back and hunched its shoulders.  
“I can craft you a bow,” Mono offered. “While you lash those bars to stout branches to make strong spears.”  
The creature nodded. “And...if it isn’t a bother, I would enjoy more of that fruit that abounds these lands...and if I could catch another lizard…”  
“I can show you the trees upon which those fruits grow,” Mono told the creature. “You must be rested and prepared for this fight to come.”  
The creature nodded resolutely. “I am without the heart of my soul, my lady. Should I be struck down by a fatal blow, I will not rise again. But I cannot afford to be cowed. I would rather die in battle against a worthy opponent than continue to live as a shadow of my former self. I will fight this colossus, and those to come. And I will discover the truth to what has befallen these once-glorious lands.”  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~★~~☾~~☀~~☾~~★~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	4. Masks and Horns Pt.1

Chapter 1: Masks and Horns  
The creature sat, cross-legged, at the top of the ruins, head bowed. It had been here for almost an hour, meditating on its meager existence. The wind continued to flow around it, treating it like the stone monolith it was.  
Five spears were strapped across its back, sturdy branches lashed to those broken pieces of bars it had torn from the amphitheater. With them was another ramshackle bow, a twin to the one the human woman had made.  
She was here too, sitting a few paces away from the creature with her strange child. The infant seemed uncomfortable, wiggling and emitting faint noises of distress. The creature could still not help but feel uncomfortable at the presence of the strange child.  
“Does he do that often, my lady?” it asked, after a pause.  
Mono looked forlorn. “Not too often...but enough that it worries me. I know not what distresses him.”  
The creature turned its head away, closing its eyes once again.  
“When I call forth the fraction of my soul to take control of the colossus, it will see both you and I as enemies,” it told the woman. “For your own safety, I beg that you remain in this place, out of its sight. As valiant as your heart is, you will not make a difference in this fight. And you have the infant to care for.”  
Mono nodded bitterly. “I know. I was never able to make a difference before. Why should I now?”  
The creature felt a spark of concern at the bitterness in her voice, but it could not dwell on such things. It needed to focus on the task ahead.  
 _Breathe. You are not helpless._  
It stood, lumbering first to all fours and then pushing itself upright. Mono stood as well, maintaining her distance.  
“It is time,” the creature said. “I am ready.”  
“Good luck, Monolith,” Mono wished it sincerely.  
The creature looked away. It could not bring itself to think of itself by any name. Not in such a state of nothingness.   
It walked from the small grove of trees. The tall cliffs framed the landscape, forming the ancient, natural area that the colossus had once roamed. Now, the dirt mound lay still and silent, save for the pieces of trapped souls within it.  
They were so faint, almost nonexistent to the creature, who was too weak to understand them fully. But before, it had confirmed their existence. The souls, its soul, would power the colossus again.  
It would hope to defeat the beast quickly, before it tired. It hoped the ramshackle weapons it held across its back would be enough to pierce the ancient hide. If not, there would be nothing they could do to defeat it, not unless a true weapon could be found.  
It had all the strength it could, gained from hunting the silver-tailed lizards and ancient fruit trees. There was nothing more to be done, not unless it believed it could build a forge and create its own weapons. Which, of course, it could not.  
It reached the giant mound of earth and glanced over its shoulder. Mono was barely visible among the trees at the top of the ruins, watching intently with the infant on her back. The creature could not make out any details at this distance, but it believed that the woman was holding her bow.  
It turned away and knelt next to the mound, placing its ragged hand on the earth. The souls inside flickered unsteadily. They had partitioned themselves, the souls of enemies seeking to maintain distance, out of disgust. Its own soul was amongst those of its fallen allies. It knew it without doubt.  
 _Come forth. There is something you must do._  
It called to the fragment, urging it to join with the magic that bound the colossus together, now missing its power source. The fragment seemed hesitant, but was unable to resist her command, as Dormin’s soul had been unable to resist the commands of those who had sealed it. It joined with the magic, running through the stone skeleton of the beast. Dirt fell from the mound in rivlets as it began to move.  
The creature jumped back from the mound, drawing a spear from its back. Dirt was flung into the sky as a massive hand appeared from the pile, planting itself on the ground as the colossus pushed itself to its knees.  
The creature darted away from its line of sight, scanning the great beast for weaknesses. It only needed to pierce through the thick hide and make a gash large enough for the piece of soul to escape through.  
 _This is powerful magic. But it’s age will have led it to degrade. There will be holes in the fabric, through which I can extract my soul._  
The colossus seemed self-concerned at the moment, perhaps even confused. Did it remember its past life, its past death? Or was it simply a machine of magic, unable to think of anything other than its given duty?  
The creature walked lightly to the right, trying to get behind the colossus. As self-absorbed as it was, it was an easy task.  
 _Does it have no awareness of what is around it?_ The creature wondered at the almost foolish demeanor of the monster. If it was aware that another being had brought it to life, it seemed to have no intent on finding that being. With a heavy huff, it took a step, shaking the ground. On heavy, stone feet, looking almost like hooves, it began to tread away from its challenger, peacefully unaware of its precarious situation.  
 _I stalked terrible monsters through the brush before,_ the creature reassured itself. _Think of this as just another hunt._  
It hefted its spear and began to follow the colossus, moving on soundless feet. As it closed in on its quarry, it was shook by the grand size of the beast, towering overhead like a building come to life. In one hand it held a stone club; one strike from such a weapon would render any living being to pulp.  
 _But look there, on its leg._ There were ragged edges, where stone armor had broken away, exposing thick, shaggy fur on the monster’s calf. So the stone was not its skin; it covered a thinner layer, one that was living. It’s other leg was fully armored in stone and leathery skin, a much more difficult target to pursue.  
The creature flexed its free hand. Much of the colossus’ back was the same, shaggy fur, interspaced by stone platforms, almost as if the creature was meant to be ridden.   
_How thick is its skin?_ Those unarmored areas could still be impenetrable to be weapons, if the beast as a vessel had been made well enough. It had been slain before, so obviously it held some weakness, and logic would point to its living skin as the culprit. The exposed calf seemed to be a good place to test that possibility.  
The creature picked up its pace, nearing the foot of the colossus. With a short leap, its feet moved from solid ground to living fur, hands latching onto the strands in an iron grip. The colossus snorted in notice, but seemed slow to react.  
 _Let’s see your mettle, beast!_ The creature spun its spear around and plunged it into the exposed calf, eliciting a bellow of pain from the colossus. Its knee buckled, and the beast sagged, knee coming to rest on the ground. The creature pulled its spear from the small wound with surprise; it had been expecting more of a fight.  
A small spurt of greyish fluid followed the exit of the spear, but the stream quickly died. _There is nothing trapped in its leg but magic,_ the creature observed sourly. From here it could not pierce into the heart of the vessel, where the souls were trapped.  
A ring of stone around the kneeling colossus’ thigh was in reach now that the beast was kneeling. The creature leapt from the calf, toes locking around the stone edge. It grasped the fur beyond and pulled itself up, climbing for the first of the stone platforms. The colossus regained its feet with an irritable snort, wound in its leg all but closed.  
The creature pulled itself onto the first stone platform just as the colossus began to shake, trying to dislodge its attacker. The creature lay flat on its belly, clinging with gritted teeth to the stone surface until the tremor passed.  
 _Not so unaware now, is it..._ the creature regained its feet and began to climb again. In its prime, it could have easily jumped the distance between this platform and the next, but weak as it was, there was no hope in that venture. It climbed slowly, hand over hand, painfully aware of the strain in its fingers.  
The colossus shook again, and the creature felt its feet dislodge. It cried out in anger and fear, hands locking tight on the shaggy fur. The colossus flailed about for a moment more, snorting and grumbling. The shaggy fur on its back moved like waves on the ocean.  
 _How did a mere mortal accomplish this task, let alone sixteen of them?_ The creature wondered with awe. It seemed so far still, to the creature’s head. A rough guess, but what better place to put the vessel’s weakness than far off the ground?  
It pulled itself onto the second platform, pausing to take deep, shuddering breaths. Its fingers and toes were aching from the strain.  
 _Its back slopes out above, across broad shoulders._ Perhaps it could find rest there as well, safer ground to stand on should the colossus continue to shake.  
The beast was walking again, moving on some unknown track around its area of living. Now that the creature was on the stone platform, it seemed to have calmed.  
 _Can it not feel me, when I am touching only stone?_ The beast did seem generally unobservant; perhaps it had no feeling within the stone of its body, armor as it was. Did it really think that it had dislodged its attacker?  
 _Well, I am sorry, beast, but that is not true._ The creature latched onto the thick fur again, pushing itself up with determination. Those broad, sloping shoulders seemed so close, stones sticking up from its spine like the vertebral processes had pierced through its skin. Each heavy step the colossus took vibrated through its whole body, fur shaking in ripples.  
The creature crested those wide shoulders just as the beast shook again, and it found its feet dislodged. It was shook like a rag, battered against the fur it clung to. The blows ached against its emaciated ribs, but it ground its teeth together and refused to let go. Once the shaking stopped, it regained its feet and finally crested the wide shoulders, arriving at a surface where it could crouch and regain the feeling in its cramping fingers.  
 _What a climb!_ The view from atop the colossus was impressive, though stone walls around them continued to grow higher. The great Shrine was visible, still grand in all its ruin. The lands expanded behind it, a picturesque scene that had once been brimming with life and civilization. The creature felt a deep pang of sorrow; it could remember that these lands had once been grand, but could recall nothing of why they were so.  
An angry grumble on the behalf of the colossus brought it back to reality, and it quickly grabbed hold of the thick fur as the beast gave another irritable shake. Its head was set in line with its shoulders, hunched like it carried a great weight. Its neck was almost a flat pathway, leading to the top of its skull. Its face was a mask of stone, ears stout pillars.  
 _What better place to try and pierce a vessel than at its neck?_ The creature wondered. But this was no ceramic jar. The spirits trapped within did not have to swirl closest to the surface where would be logical.  
The creature shut its clouded eyes, lowering itself onto its belly and clinging tightly to the thick fur. It reached its senses out, trying to call to the fragment of its soul. It was responded to with anger and rage, the piece of its soul locked by magic into powering the steps of the great colossus. The hot emotion shook it deeply, but it could feel where the soul was nearest to the surface.  
It pushed itself to a crouch and made for the colossus’s head. The beast shook again, grumbling angrily. The creature clung to the fur, crawling out onto the wide skull. It was a precarious position; should it lose its grip and fall to the left, right, or fore, it would be flung into the open air, nothing to catch onto.  
It hefted its spear, centered over the colossus’ skull. With a primal howl, it plunged the spear downwards with all its might, feeling the ragged metal tip saw through skin, flesh, and into something more fluid. The colossus roared in pain, back arching. It shook mightily, flinging the creature about.  
 _I have found a way in!_ The creature scrabbled for a grip with its hind feet, bracing itself so it could pull the spear from the mystical flesh. Grey-white fluid spurted out after it like water from a leaking pipe. This sight filled the creature with determination, and it plunged the spear back into the wound, widening it. The colossus roared again, shaking its whole body about. The creature felt itself lift from the fur, suspended in air. The spearhaft it clung to bent and broke under the force, and it found itself holding on by just one hand.  
 _Ah!_ The air was driven painfully from its lungs as it slammed back down onto the colossus’ hide. It flung away the broken piece of wood and clung on for dear life, heart pounding wildly. The monster shook again, like a dog with water in its ears.  
The broken spear was still embedded in the colossus’ skull, blocking the wound. With a grunt, the creature ripped the remains of the weapon from the thick skin, more greyish fluid spraying out after it. The fluid splashed against its face, but it felt no moisture, no touch, nothing to signify that the stream was something physical.   
The colossus shook again, and the creature felt its cramping fingers give way. It was flung into the air, off the beast’s skull. It tumbled down its neck, sliding towards empty space. With a cry, it stabbed the broken spearhead into the colossus’ hide, stopping its fall. It hung in empty space for just a moment, before adrenaline and fear had it climbing back up the shaggy fur, panting in terror. It drew another spear from its back and clung to the furry shoulder, trying to get its breath back.  
The colossus gave no quarter. It continued to shake, battering its attacker to and fro. The air was driven from its lungs mercilessly, but it held on staunching, crawling back towards the bleeding skull.  
It arrived again over the wound, heart pounding. The colossus threw its head back with an angry snort, eyes glowing orange with rage. The creature drew back its spear and plunged it into the wound again, feeling it go deeper than before. The colossus bellowed and shook; the creature pulled the spear from the flesh and stabbed it down again, teeth ground together so tightly they ached. The greyish fluid was flung all around it, vanishing into the sky as the magic dissipated. It could only take so much; it had to break under the pressure of the souls contained inside of it.  
The creature stabbed the wound again, eyes wild and full of desperation. It’s fingers were beginning to feel frayed, muscles screaming in protest. It plunged the spear back into the wound and a spasm shook the colossus’ entire body, head flung back and locked, eyes staring at the sky. Bright tendrils erupted from its skull, tendrils of all colors. They swirled around the creature, still clinging to its skull, feeling like an animal trapped in a rushing river. The colossus was falling, falling, club dropping from its hand, fingers gone limp. It hit the ground like an earthquake, and the creature was flung from its skull, unable to hold on any longer.  
It hit the ground on its back, air driven from it with a cry. The sky was full of colors, the tendrils spiraling out of sight. It felt transfixed by the sight, as beautiful as it was.  
 _Those are all the soul fragments that were trapped with mine. The souls of my allies and enemies that Dormin and I had captured and made our own._  
A white tendril extracted itself from the flying bundle, then another and another. Like ribbons, the white tendrils weaved their way back to the ground, hovering in a bundle above the dead colossus. The creature reached out its hand weakly, calling to them.  
The tendrils floated gently away from the colossus and came to hover over the creature. They descended slowly, as if they were unsure, and settled against the creature’s chest. With a faint glow of light, they absorbed through its mange-ridden skin, and its entire body filled with warmth.  
It was changing. Stone was growing across its ragged face, forming the bridge of its nose, aligning crooked nostrils. It inhaled, and felt the sweet scent of earth and grass enter its being. The stone crawled across its forehead, forming heavy brows above its eyes. The flesh around its ear-holes began to morph, rising into the rounded structure of proper ears. Everything around it became clearer, as if it was no longer listening to the world through balls of cotton. Its aches faded, and it felt some of the sickness leave its body.  
Mono was running over, eyes wide. “Monolith!” she exclaimed, coming to a stop near the creature and kneeling down. “Are you well?”  
“I am,” the creature gasped, staring up at the sky in amazement. “I can hear the cries of the eagles, I can smell the scent of the grass and flowers on the wind. Part of me is restored.”  
~


	5. Masks and Horns Pt.2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's a little longer. I hope that's fine.
> 
> Surprisingly, I wrote this before I watched FMA:B. I understood what equivalent exchange was even before I did :P

Masks and Horns Pt. 2

“Can you remember anything?” Mono asked. “What memories did that piece of your soul contain?”  
The creature knit its stone brow in concentration. “I can remember...faces. Voices. But no names, and it is all jumbled out of order. I know not who is who, or why I remember them. I see humans, animals, and other beings like myself, all in a great slew of memories. They are so clear, so striking...but I cannot tell you who they are, or what they were known for. I am sorry.”  
Mono seemed a little disappointed. “Well, now that you have a piece of your soul back, you should have an easier time defeating the next colossus?”  
The creature winced. “Not necessarily, my lady. I have a bit more of my strength, but still my weapon eludes me.”  
Mono looked at the corpse of the colossus. “You have its face.”  
“Rather, it has my face,” the creature replied. “When the ancient humans formed these colossi to trap Dormin, they gave them the strength and abilities of their prisoners, in order to keep away those who would want to free them.”  
It had sat up, crossing its legs and placing its hands in its lap. It could feel another memory of the piece of its soul, a memory of identity. Beings like itself did not conform to the typical gender representations of humans, but were rather made of many different genders, in one body that was free to identify as it wished. This piece of its soul, its face, ears, and nose, was female. No longer was it a faceless creature. It had a face, an identity. And it had a name.  
_Monolith. Perhaps I have proven myself worthy of the name._  
Monolith lifted her head, feeling the warm sun on her back. The wind brought exotic scents to her nose, the scents of this wild and magical land. Mono, so near, smelled strongly of the humans. The child on her back smelled less so.  
The infant was upset. The faint cries drifted to Monolith’s ears, heard so clearly. Mono frowned, kneeling to bring the child into her arms.  
“I am still unsure of what bothers him…” she said quietly, looking down at the child, whose face was contorted in some mixture of distress and discomfort.  
“If I could read his memories, I would know,” Monolith told the woman. “But such a great power as mind-reading is attached to the heart of my soul, which remains trapped in another colossi.”  
Mono looked up at her. “Then you must continue fighting them. You must gain back all your soul.”  
Monolith turned over her shoulder, looking back towards the corpse of the colossus. With a cry, she jumped backwards, hands lifting.  
“What is it?” Mono asked hurriedly, clutching the child a little closer.  
“A great beam of light,” the creature gasped. “It soars from the corpse of the monster and into the sky, piercing the shining clouds.”  
“You mean you didn’t see those beams before?” Mono asked. “They are all around us.”  
Monolith shook her head in confusion. “I see just this one. You mean there are more?”  
Mono nodded. “I can see sixteen.”  
Monolith blinked slowly. There had been sixteen broken idols in the Shrine. Sixteen colossi, holding sixteen pieces of Dormin.  
“They must mark the places of the colossi,” she concluded. “Where whoever last killed them, where they lay. I feel their location in my heart, for my soul draws me there. You can see them all with your mortal eyes.”  
Mono seemed unworried by the creature’s lack of sight. She stood and turned, meaning to make her way back down the ruins. “We should return to the Shrine, so you can rest. You’ll need your strength to fight the next colossus.”  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~★~~☾~~☀~~☾~~★~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
The creature strode down a cliffside path, the mortal woman following not far behind. This place was drawing them, one by heart and the other by sight, beckoning them towards their next reckoning with the great monsters that lay dormant upon the earth. Sandstone cliffs towered to their left, plunging away towards their right. Great, stone pillars rose into the sky, supporting nothing. The rubble of a once-great bridge littered the sandy ground, beyond which ocean waves crashed. They seemed far from the coast in this sheltered place, but Monolith could smell the salt on the air, thrown by the frothy waves.  
She looked to the sky, a faint echo reminding her of the grand bridge which once connected the Shrine to the outside world. She saw faces, travelling across the bridge, coming to meet with whoever was on the other side.  
“It was fallen when I awoke,” Mono said quietly. “The dust that rose from the ground was still fresh.”  
“It would have taken great strength to wipe out the entire bridge so cleanly,” Monolith told her. “The kind of strength that shakes you to the core.” She shivered at her own words.  
“Could Dormin have done something like that?” the woman asked.  
“Yes,” the creature replied, without hesitation.  
They reached the bottom of the path, within the sandy basin. The breeze blew gently across the sand, stirring it in little spirals. The footprints of the creature and the human were quickly wiped away by the wind.  
They rounded one of the stone spires, the unmoving bulk of another colossus visible in front of the mouth of a yawning cave. Moss was growing on the beast’s windward side, nourished by the spray from the ocean. It looked almost like a natural hillock, save for the stone armor that was still visible from beneath the dirt.  
Mono stopped, putting a hand on the warm stone. “I will wait here,” she said quietly. Monolith nodded resolutely and kept walking, extracting a spear from the bundle on her back. As she approached the dormant colossus, she could already tell that it was larger than the one she had just fought.  
_No matter. You will endure this one like you endured the last._  
The mound loomed above her, features and details obscured by sand and earth. She knelt at its base, shutting her eyes. She could feel the piece of her soul swirling around inside the mound, hovering amongst others, just as trapped as it. When she called to it, it responded strongly, and the mound shuddered with new life.  
A great bellow emitted from the colossus as it awoke, head lifting from the ground in a great spray of sand. Monolith backed away from the beast, avoiding its massive hooves as they broke from the mound and planted themselves against the sand. A plume of dust rose high into the sky as the colossus, a massive, four-legged monster, shook itself thoroughly. Its heavy head swung around, glowing eyes fixing on the tiny figure who had brought it to life. Glowing eyes, set within a bullish stone mask, turned orange with fury.  
_Not as unobservant as your precursor, are you?_ Monolith noted with some regret. The colossus took an earth-shaking step towards her, moving slowly under its great weight.  
Monolith darted around the beast’s left, baiting it away from where Mono was hiding. _Its legs are smooth stone, nothing I can climb,_ she observed. _There is nothing of this beast I can reach from the ground!_  
She needed to find some way to get it to fall, just as she had done with the first colossus. She couldn’t see any weaknesses yet; the beast’s hooves were impenetrable stone, its legs leathery skin covered by shaggy fur. Nearer to its shoulders, mushroom-like growths of stone projected, small platforms that could provide some safety, if they could be reached.  
_It moves slowly. I can outrun it on foot._ But doing so would achieve nothing, so she stopped and faced the colossus, legs braced against its earth-shuddering steps.  
The beast towered above her, head blocking out the shining sky. It stopped a few paces from her, eyes fixed unblinkingly on its prey. It bent its legs and reared with a grumble, hooves positioned to come down and crush the smaller creature below it.  
Monolith’s eyes widened and she darted out of the way, gripping her spear tightly. The earth shuddered as the colossus crashed down, almost throwing her off her feet. She stumbled and kept running, putting distance between her and the beast. It turned slowly, eyes always coming back to her.  
The bottoms of its hooves had been glowing a whitish-green, magic showing through living skin. Monolith let it face her again, turning slowly.  
_I wonder what piece of me you’ll give back, monster…_  
The colossus approached her again. She slung her spear back across her shoulders and withdrew her crude bow. She nocked an arrow from the quiver on her hip, hoping the bow would shoot true.  
The colossus reared up again, exposing the glowing undersides of its hooves. Monolith drew the bowstring to her cheek and let the arrow fly; it went wide and struck the colossus’ leathery bicep. The beast didn’t seem to notice.  
_Curses!_ Monolith threw herself out of the way of the descending hoof, just avoiding injury. Of course her ramshackle bow would prove untrue; she would just have to aim to compensate for the hopefully-consistent error.  
The colossus reared around again, unfazed by the trouble it was having in squashing its foe. It lumbered on thunderous footsteps, coming to stop before Monolith yet again. With a bellow, it reared up, baring its hooves.  
Monolith aimed to the left side of the hoof, and the arrow struck true, curving to the right and striking the glowing flesh. The colossus bellowed in pain, favoring its shot foot. Monolith ran from under it; when it fell, its foot rolled and it’s elbow struck the ground. The shaggy fur of its shoulder was now within reach.  
Monolith jumped onto the beast’s arm, switching her bow out for her spear. She scrambled for the mushroom-shaped platform as the colossus hauled itself back to its feet, grumbling angrily. She crouched on the platform, trying to figure out where to go next. The thick fur gave way to leathery skin above her, impassable. The fur continued along the beast’s flank and around to its back; it was the only way to go.  
She leapt from the platform and began her lateral crawl, trying to move as fast as possible. If she fell, she would have to try her luck with her faulty bow again, and she did not wish to do that. Ridges of stone protruded from the colossus’ spine, but at its hip there was a gap, and she climbed its fur to the safety of its broad back.  
She felt the beast widen its stance, and hung on as it shook itself, stone discs of its spine scraping past each other. There was a way to its head, if she wished to climb over the stone ridges that extended from its spine.  
_I better not be caught on top of one of those when it shakes,_ she thought grimly, getting to her feet. The colossus was walking again, in no state to shake until it stopped and widened its stance, making it predictable. She jumped and grabbed onto the first stone ridge, hauling herself over. They were easy barrier, and some were broken and worn, making traversal even simpler. When the beast next paused, planting its feet, she had plenty of time to get a good hold before it shook.  
The ridged spine ended at its neck, the top of its skull flat and open. Monolith crouched at its center, between the roots of the horns. She could see that the right one was broken at its base, a ragged wound of time. The left horn reminded her of a great ram’s, curling proudly.  
_Hopefully this colossus is like the last in terms of weak points…_ she gritted her teeth and held on as the beast tossed its head. Once it stopped, she lifted her spear and drove it downwards, rewarded with the feeling of the sharp metal slicing through flesh and into the murky substrate of the inner vessel. She yanked the spear free, greyish fluid spraying forth.  
_Curses!_ She exclaimed. The metal tip of the spear was bent and deformed, dulled beyond usefulness by its passage through the beast’s thick skin. Hopefully, now that it was broken, the same would not happen to her other spears…  
The colossus was bellowing in pain, turning in a circle. It tossed its head, the movement just as slow as the rest of its actions. Monolith threw aside her now-useless spear and drew another one, plunging it back into the wound. More fluid sprayed forth, but when she stabbed it a third time, no great fountain erupted in its wake. The colossus tossed its head again, and she urgently retreated to the safety of its back, nursing aching hands.  
_Huh..._ she had broken a hole into its skull, but it seemed that the magic was more evenly spread around its body. It could not be broken through in just one place.  
She shut her eyes and placed her hand against the colossus’ skin, feeling for the power of her soul. It was spread about the beast’s body, glowing strongly at two points, and in traces around its head. The other two points were on its rear and its left flank.  
Monolith huffed angrily. _To think I climbed all the way from its rump to just have to return there..._ there was no point in brooding on the fact. The longer she remained on the colossus, the tireder she would get. She needed to finish the job.  
She climbed over a ridge of stone, feeling the beast bracing below her. She barely had time to take ahold of the shaggy fur before the beast shook, tossing her around like a rag. She landed hard, air driven from her lungs, but she forced herself to get up and keep moving, gasping for air all the while. She made her way back to the beast’s hip, crawling out onto its rump as it gave another bone-jarring shake.  
_The magic gathered beneath here, at the end of its spine._ She shifted her grip on her spear and plunged it through the surface. The haft snapped with an audible crack, breaking at the skin. Monolith swore angrily and threw the broken piece away, hand scrabbling at the wound to try and withdraw the embedded spearhead. It proved difficult to remove, and she had to retreat to the monster’s spine as it shook again and her fingers threatened to give. She crouched there, rubbing her aching hands, trying to encourage the blood to flow back to them.  
The spearhead was blocking the wound, the magic bonds of the vessel unbroken with no way for their energies to be released. She had to remove the piece, otherwise her efforts would be wasted.  
She drew another spear, her second-to-last one. Perhaps she could use it to pry the piece out...she crawled back onto the monster’s rump and readied herself for a strong blow. The colossus shook, breaking her draw, and she barely held on as it tossed her around. Regaining her feet, she plunged the spear into its rump with all her might, aiming next to the embedded spearhead. The colossus bellowed in pain, shaking more. Monolith felt the spear snap under her hand, leaving her with two broken hafts embedded in the beast’s skin.  
_Cursed useless weapons!_ She threw the broken haft away, feeling rage fill her bones. She was not going to lose this fight because her weapons were too weak to withstand their use. What a pathetic fate that would be, to be left unarmed with victory just inches away. She supposed she could always flee from the beast and return with more spears, but magic vessels this strong could sometimes heal themselves over time, and then all of her hard work would be lost.  
The second broken spear was sticking out of the beast’s rump. She grabbed hold of the piece and yanked it free, rewarded by the grey stream of fluid. She stuck the spearhead back into the wound, stabbing it into the broken haft of the other, and yanked it free. More fluid spurted forth, and she felt the magic bonds beneath the rump fail, the souls surging ever more strongly against the remaining spot on the colossus’ flank.  
This would be the most precarious spot to get, suspended as she would be over the empty air. She crawled back to the beast’s back, giving herself a moment to rest. She had but one spear to her name.  
_It can do, as long as it doesn’t break._ She held the spear carefully, almost as if it was delicate. Her success with the first colossus had blinded her to what difficulties could lie ahead; never would she have guessed that one of the great monsters would need its magic severed in three places in order to free the souls within it.  
She clung to the fur, heart beating as she inched out onto the colossus’s flank. Each step it took shook her, but she gritted her teeth and kept moving. The magic was gathered the strongest just beyond the beast’s last rib, or where its last rib would be.  
_Time to give me back what you took!_  
Monolith plunged the spear through the thick skin with a cry, holding back out of fear she would snap the haft. The metal point only slightly pierced into the inner vessel, the spurt of greyish fluid weak. Cursing aloud, she yanked the spear free and stabbed it down again, harder. The spurt of fluid was stronger this time, but a crack had spidered up the wooden haft. The colossus shook, and Monolith felt her feet slipping.  
_This better be it!_ She didn’t hold back. She drove all her strength behind the spear, feeling the haft shatter completely under her hand. The metal tip pierced deep through the skin, and she felt a tremor pass through the colossus’ body. She grasped the broken spearhead, pulling desperately. It was lodged deeply, and as the colossus shook again, she felt her handhold slip. She was hanging by the spearhead, clinging to it with her one hand. But even as the beast shook itself free of her, the movement dislodged the spearhead, and its body seized as the fluid spewed forth, magic bonds no longer able to contain the trapped souls.  
Monolith hit the ground on her back, air driven from her lungs with a painful cry. The broken spear was still clutched in her hand, fingers locked almost as if in death. The colossus wavered above her and fell away, feet kicking up ruts in the sand as many tendrils of colored light escaped from its flank. They swirled around above the slain beast before jetting off into the sky.  
Monolith pushed herself to her feet, pain spiking up and down her spine. The white tendrils were already drifting towards her; she held out a hand and they absorbed through her skin, filling her body with warmth.  
Her eyes locked onto the colors that still danced above the corpse. One seemed to stand out to her, a ribbon of burnished gold. She knew that soul...a face drifted through her mind, a voice, and though she couldn’t remember a name, she knew who they were. A friend.  
“Wait,” she said aloud, holding out her hand. Her soul was already in place inside her, returning to her more of her inhuman strength and healing her ills. The scabs and sores on her skin were becoming smaller and less frequent; soon her fur would begin to grow back. Another soul would give her more strength, but she didn’t want the golden soul for that purpose. It was of her friend, and she wanted to give it a home to reside in. Its past host was long dead, but she could at least give it the comfort of a body again. A soul out in the environment, without a body, would not have any strength or comfort in this world.  
The golden tendril drifted uncertainly towards her. She reached for it, calling to it with all her strength. _My friend, my good friend, please let me give you peace._  
The tendril swirled around her arm and came to rest against her chest, glowing faintly as it was absorbed. The extra strength warmed her body, and she smiled as the piece of soul came to rest next to hers. Her skull was morphing, and she felt horns erupt from her scalp, curling around her ears. Great, golden ram’s horns, like those of the colossus but not of dull stone, framed her emaciated face. She lifted a hand, almost in wonder, to touch their ridged surface. The fur of her scalp felt soft and healthy, the infections in her skin gone from that place.  
“The colossus had your ram’s tenacity,” she said quietly, holding the picture of her friend in her mind. He had ram’s horns too, framing his ovine face.  
The piece of her friend’s soul had been masculine, but the one of herself had been feminine, so she remained in her female identity. She could not remember the gender of her whole self, but perhaps this was a sign it was female, if two pieces of her soul had already been so.  
Mono was approaching her again. She faced her, struck by how much taller she was compared to the mortal woman. She was standing up straight now, enough strength returned to do so.  
“That was...impressive,” the woman said, eyes fixed on the corpse of the colossus. Another beam of mystical light was emitting from it, joining the first in the shimmering sky.  
“I inherited a piece of my friend’s soul,” Monolith told her. “I can see some of his memories, and more of mine. Memories of war, of struggle. Fighting against Dormin and his supporters, for they had done something atrocious...”  
“Dormin was split into sixteen pieces by the ancient humans,” Mono said quietly. “When he...brought me back to life, he spoke to me. He said they split him into pieces because they were afraid of his power. He claimed he would’ve been merciful to them if they had worshipped him properly, but they were too prideful to do so.”  
“Sounds like Dormin’s lies,” Monolith grumbled. “Our people already had so much in our lives, but he was greedy. Using his powers to cross into the lands beyond and bring back loved ones...it seems noble, but there are no souls in the lands beyond. He would’ve had to take one from this world to use.”  
“So in bringing people back to life, he had to kill someone else?” Mono asked, sounding horrified.  
Monolith nodded heavily. “Indeed, my lady...life and death are the greatest laws of nature, and must always remain in a balance.”  
Mono covered her mouth with a hand, eyes horrified. “I...someone died so I could live.”  
“Do not feel sorrow for this,” Monolith advised her, trying to be gentle. “You had no say in the matter, and what is done is done.”  
Mono bowed her head. “You are right. I can only hope it was the life of a sick, old person that I took, and not of someone with a long future ahead of them.”  
Monolith wished she could comfort the woman more, but nothing would change their circumstances. They would never be able to know for sure which life had been snuffed out in exchange for hers.  
“Let us return to the Shrine,” she suggested. “I must rest and calculate my next moves carefully. I may have underestimated these colossi.”  
Mono nodded numbly. “Yes, let us go.”  
“Please, my lady, do not dwell on these sorrows,” Monolith urged. “It will do you no good.”  
“It is all just so confusing…” the woman murmured. “I wish I knew what happened…”  
“I as well, my lady,” Monolith told her. “But our fates are what we make of them. I am confident the answers are in my memory, at least some of them. I more I know, the more I can deduce of this strange situation.”  
“I will gather more of that fruit for you,” Mono promised. “And you shall rest. Spend time in the garden, at peace.”  
“You should do the same,” the creature advised. “You have worked hard these past few days, carving out an existence for yourself here.”  
Mono looked away. “I should. But I feel restless.”  
“As do I,” Monolith promised. “But we must face our problems with a steady hand, my lady. There is nothing to be gained in working ourselves to exhaustion.”  
Mono seemed ready to argue, but then her shoulders slumped and she exhaled in defeat. “You speak wisely. I am tired; these last few days have taxed me. I cannot tell when I last slept, for the passage of time is impossible to track without the cycles of day and night.”  
They began to ascend the cliffside path again, leaving the corpse of the colossus behind.  
“I can find the fruit trees on my own,” Monolith promised. “I would like to visit the amphitheater again, to gather more sharp bars for spearheads, anyways.”  
“There is a beam of light above that place,” Mono mentioned. “Is there a colossus inside?”  
The creature nodded. “Yes, but it does not call as strongly to me. The magic of this place has put these beasts in order...probably to try and tire out whoever is fighting them. Each colossus holds a new challenge, a new difficulty, ones that become harder and harder to beat. The exhausted warrior faces his most difficult fight last, heightening chances of failure...but the escaped pieces of Dormin’s soul would have latched onto his body, and given him strength to continue.”  
“So you’re saying Dormin possessed whoever brought me here?” Mono asked dubiously.  
Monolith shrugged. “Probably. Dormin’s physical body was destroyed, so he would’ve needed to find another one. A soul without a body cannot do much.”  
“He must have been very powerful, to be split into pieces and yet strong enough to speak to a mortal,” Mono said.  
“These colossi are worn and weathered,” Monolith told her. “Their magic is not as strong as it once was. As time passed, Dormin would’ve regained more independence. He never would’ve been able to break free on his own, but it would’ve become easier for someone else to free him.”  
“What a terrible trick to play on a mortal,” the woman muttered darkly. “And the fool who fell for it…” the child on her back whimpered unhappily.  
“Paid a terrible price,” Monolith finished her sentence. “Possession is a terrible experience. I would never think to commit such an ugly crime, to enact such agony on another living being.”  
Mono seemed shaken by her words, and was silent. The creature looked away, head bowed. They walked the rest of the way back to the Shrine in exhaustion.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~★~~☾~~☀~~☾~~★~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	6. Blades and Horses Pt. 1

Chapter 2: Blades and Horses  
An arrow thwacked into a tree-trunk with a satisfying thud, fletchings shivering. Monolith lowered her bow, relieved. After what had felt like hours of bending, scraping, and shaping the branches of supple saplings, she had created a ramshackle bow that shot straight with consistency and strength. A few broken and discarded bowframes littered the forest floor around her makeshift arena, evidence of her past failures.  
The wind whistled through the tops of the trees around her. She had remembered this place, one of the sacred forest groves of her forgotten people. There were only a few of these places, scattered around the windswept countryside. They were sheltered by cliffs, fertile soil accumulating with the passage of time, the wind unable to carry it away. Trees could take root here in great numbers, and these trees were descendents of ancient saplings, planted by the lost inhabitants of this place. Those old trees would have died long ago, but left behind their seeds, and life started anew.  
The groves had once been bigger, Monolith believed. Her memory, like her vision, remained foggy on so many details. The war that shook these lands must have torn so many of these peaceful beings up by their roots.  
She yanked her arrow out of the tree, inspecting the tip, which had been dulled by the bark, but would still fly straight. She returned it to her quiver; she could not afford to be picky, not when each arrow needed to be made by hand.  
She exited the forest, walking back towards the Shrine. The crumbling building was outlined against the glowing sky, a sight ethereal. Mono was inside, somewhere. She had promised to rest in the tranquility of the rooftop garden, taking time to care for her own well-being.  
Monolith hesitated. She slung her bow across her back, eyes drawn to some place beyond the Shrine. The third piece of her soul was calling to her.   
She had told Mono she would let her know when it was time to face her third trial, but now she was unsure. The mortal woman had done well in staying safe from the first two monsters, but Monolith feared she would soon be unable to ensure her safety. The woman had no business being anywhere near those terrible monsters, as tenacious and determined as she was. And the colossi would only become more difficult from here on out.   
_Perhaps I should just go...I can make up some excuse later._  
Monolith squared her shoulders. She had six spears across her back, the remains of her original visit to the amphitheater. She could carry no more without the weight becoming too much. She had visited the amphitheater again, but there was little more to be scrounged from the place, not until her strength was enough to let her break the bars by hand. Six spears would have to do.  
The piece of her soul was beyond the Shrine, over the earthen bridge that had led to the four-legged monster, now again returned to a mound of earth. She averted her eyes from the building as she passed, hoping Mono would not see her. She did not think she could, but felt the guilt anyways.  
 _But it is for her own safety, and the safety of that child._  
An eagle cried as it flew overhead, floating on effortless wings. Monolith watched it wistfully, wishing she could fly to her destination rather than walk. It would save her so much time, too much of which had already been lost.  
The spray from the ocean cove battered her as she crossed the land bridge, salt smell strong in her nose. She inhaled deeply, foggy memories of relaxing on the beach filtering through her mind. She saw her ram-horned friend, huddled nervously at the top of the beach. He was afraid of water, she recalled. She had not been; she splashed in the waves with joy, calling to him to join her. She couldn’t remember his name.  
The memory became suddenly painful, and she whisked it away, bowing her head with forlorn eyes.  
Her soul was calling her to the northwest, where the cliffs began to rise again. She crossed the open plain, the wind urging her forth. She welcomed the shadows of the cliffs, hiding her as they did from sight of the Shrine.  
 _I do hope Mono is not too upset…_  
The scuttling of lizards caught her attention. They were all over the canyon walls, but their tails did not glow, so Monolith ignored them. They would do her no good, being made of simple mortal flesh.  
The canyon widened, revealing mist hanging in rags over a still lake. From the waters, an island towered, uplifted from the lakebed on a ragged stone base. The island was slightly tilted, evident of some great force that had struck its flank long ago. The mist wreathed around it like an audience of specters.  
Monolith stopped, awed by the sight. What grand place this used to be, she could not remember, but in its ruin it remained fantastic. Carved stone ringed its width, the details and decorations lost to her murky vision. A broken ramp led up to the platform, tail-end submerged in the dark lake. Great arches supported its length, stone covered in mosses that had grown in the damp.  
She approached the edge of the lake, eyes on the towering platform. The piece of her soul was calling from that place, from above. The call was incessant, and for a moment she almost felt a pang of sympathy for Dormin. He spent lifetimes trapped in this land, with sixteen pieces of himself clamoring in his ears, unable to be reunited. What a headache that would have been.  
The water lapped against her feet, cold to the touch. She staved off a shiver as she entered the lake, the cold making her infected skin ache. She paddled slowly to the sunken ramp, relieved once she had her feet on solid ground again. Despite her gains in strength, her swimming was still weak as a newborn’s.  
From here, beneath the shadow of the platform, she could see that it was a lot higher off the ground than she had thought. The ramp led up steeply before curving to the right, broken end ragged. She climbed the ramp with eyes fixed on the platform, but its edge remained above her vision, preventing her from seeing the arena on top. She reached the end of the ramp and crouched, eyeing up her options. A pillar supported a broken chunk of stone, a carved ring running its length. She stood and jumped the gap, hands grabbing onto the ring. The distance would have challenged some humans, but she cleared it effortlessly, larger size giving her an advantage. She edged along the block to her right, crossing onto its side that faced the platform’s edge. She twisted, looking over her shoulder at her destination, and leapt, hands reaching out. She landed on the lip of the stone and quickly threw her weight forwards, rolling away from the edge.  
 _I am getting my agility back, though slowly._ She got to her feet and dusted herself off, making sure not to dwell on the stomach-churning drop just a pace away.  
The arena surface was still hidden from her sight, another tier above her position. With no other option, she chose a direction and walked, walked until she encountered a set of stairs that led up to the grassy surface of the towering platform.  
There was a sprawled figure in the center of the arena, blending in with the dirt and grass. Mounds of earth had been thrown up besides it, from when it had fallen in its death. The figure was quite lanky when compared to the last two colossi she had faced, but nevertheless, she approached with caution.  
She circled the earthen mound, trying to discern a shape from it, but the dirt had covered the details, and her clouded eyes were of no assistance. She briefly pondered trying to find the beast’s head, so she could grab it as it rose and save herself the climb, but she dismissed the notion quickly. The mound was far too vague in shape for her to find any identifiable part.  
She knelt next to it, shutting her eyes. She could feel her soul wriggling around inside the colossus, along with many others. With some of her strength returned to her, she could begin to separate the other souls from each other, identifiable points instead of one, big mass of energy.  
Her soul surged to the surface of the beast with ferocity, feeling other pieces of itself so close to it. The ground shook as the colossus threw off its dirt blanket, scattering the newly-budded grass from its hide. A round object that Monolith had previously thought to be the hilt of a weapon planted itself firmly in the ground, and she realized it was the beast’s foot.  
One of its two feet, to be exact. It was a bipedal monster, like the first had been, but significantly taller. It’s body almost reminded Monolith of a snake, thin and sinewy at the waist but wider at the shoulders, heavily armored in stone. In one hand it held a long shaft of stone, like it had ripped a pier from the ground to weild. It quickly became apparent that the weapon was not held; it was an extension of the beast’s arm, connected at a heavy cuff, which was partially broken, revealing a surprisingly skinny, fur-covered arm. It’s other arm ended in a mangle of stone, like its hand had been crushed.  
 _There is nothing on its legs I can grab from the ground, nor shoot,_ Monolith observed. The colossus towered over her, almost nauseating to look up at, she had to crane her neck so far back. The beast lifted one, spherical foot to crush her, and she quickly darted away, running behind it. It turned with more speed than the last two had, but was still predictably slow.  
 _What a climb, to the top of that thing’s head..._ but a mortal had done it, and if a mortal could do it, so could she. There must be a way.  
She darted around the colossus’ feet again, scanning its legs with a frown. Despite its round feet, it seemed quite steady. Its legs were heavily armored, and without being able to touch the living beast, she couldn’t tell where the magic was thinnest.  
It was persistent, trying to step on her. Each stomp was earthshaking, sending dirt flying up from the already-pitted battlefield. The fight with the mortal had left quite a scar across the arena…  
Monolith narrowed her eyes, squinting to see better. Many of the ruts were round, imprints of the colossus’ feet, but others were a more square, long shape. Her eyes drifted to the heavy weapon the colossus carried.  
 _You have a weapon. Let’s see you use it._  
She backpedaled from the beast, putting distance between her and it. It’s arms were quite long, so without a doubt it could reach very far in a swing. It watched her leave, head moving slowly. Its neck was lined by many cuffs of stone; she hoped they wouldn’t get in her way too much when trying to reach the top of its head.  
She stopped, feeling her distance from the beast sufficient. It took a step towards her, and its eyes started to glow a ferocious orange. Its shoulder rolled back, beginning the massive swing. Monolith felt her stomach drop and she darted sideways, fear gripping her chest at the sight of the massive pillar of stone hurtling towards her. It dug into the earth with an impact so strong she was sure the arena they stood upon would be split in two; she was thrown off her feet and plowed into the ground, pain sparking against her bones. But the arena held true, and the monster’s crude sword was momentarily stuck in the dirt.  
She regained her feet unsteadily, head spinning from the fall. The colossus was leaning its shoulder down, gathering the leverage to pull its weapon from the ground. She broke into a desperate run, not wanting to miss what could be her only ticket to the top. Her feet hit the stone and she had bounded halfway up the length before the colossus pulled it from the ground. The movement made her lose her footing and she tumbled off the side of the stone; by a narrow stroke of luck she managed to grab the edge of the surface and hang on. Heart pounding wildly, she pulled herself back onto the surface and ran for the beast’s fur-covered arm, clinging to it tightly.  
She could feel the magic that held the colossus together, repowered by the fragment of her soul. The energy was pulsing strongest in three places, the beast’s skull, midriff, and its left arm.  
 _Ok. Let’s take this methodically._ She needed to be careful; a fall from this colossus would surely result in injury, rendering her unable to defeat the beast. And she was not yet confident in her superhuman agility; she would have to climb hand-over-hand, slow as a snail.  
The colossus had bent over and was shaking its arm with slow strokes. She waited until it stopped and began her climb, moving through the wreckage of the great stone cuff around its forearm. The jagged edges of the stone seemed fresh; she wondered if the human had broken the cuff somehow, to get past it, or if the colossus had acquired the injury in another way. She wasn’t sure how a mere mortal could break through such thick stone, so she chose to believe the latter.  
She reached the beast’s elbow, pausing for a rest on the top of the stone cuff. It shook again, movements slow. It seemed that the stones it wielded were almost too heavy for its skinny arms, with how slow it moved.  
Energy regained, Monolith continued her climb. She could see the colossus’ bare torso from her position on its arm, but she hesitated to make the jump. There was a clear path up to its head from her position, and she worried that if she went for the leap, she would lose her path to the top.  
So she continued to climb, gripping with gritted teeth as the colossus shook, twisting its whole body. She crested its narrow shoulder and ran around to its back; the stone cuffs it had around its neck did not continue here, and the path to its skull was clear. She could feel the energy, shining brightest through where the magic was thinnest.  
The beast shook again, forcing her to drop to her belly. When it stopped, she bolted up its neck, withdrawing her first spear. Six would be enough, she hoped. With some of her strength back, she would strike harder, but that also increased the chance she would break her weapon.  
The view from on top of the colossus was nauseating. The fall would surely leave her grievously injured, helpless at the feet of the monster. She steeled her heart and plunged her spear into the colossus’ skull, hanging on for dear life as it flailed with a rumbling cry. She ripped the spear free in the rain of grey color, knuckles turning white. The spearhaft shattered when she plunged it down again, splinters of wood exploding outwards from the break. She tore the broken head free, feeling the magic underneath her hands pulsing like a gaping wound. The colossus tossed its head and her feet slipped; for a moment she was hanging by just her one hand, suspended over empty space. Then it tossed its head back and she was swung to safety, back on top of its skull.  
She crawled off the beast’s head, coming to rest at the base of its neck, shaking uncontrollably. Her hands and feet were cramping, and fear was gripping her chest. She had almost slipped from the top of the beast, a fall to her death.  
 _You’re fine, you’re fine…_ it was hard to regain her breath after such a close call. But she did, the image of defeat harsh in her mind. ‘Defeat’ materialized itself as Mono’s angry face; the woman would be upset enough that Monolith went to fight the colossus without her. If she died? She didn’t want to put her through such turmoil after it was so obvious she had suffered enough.  
 _The arena is surrounded by water and she can’t swim. Maybe she’ll be less angry if I tell her that._  
Monolith flexed her hands. The nearest weak spot to her was on the colossus’ left arm, a bit of a precarious position, but waiting would do her no good. She pushed herself to a crouch, readying her spear. Feeling her renewed motion, the colossus rumbled angrily and began to shake. She dropped to her belly and began to crawl, holding tight to the shaggy fur. Her eyes remained dead-set on the colossus’ arm; she dared not to look down for fear she’d lose her grip.  
Before she knew it, she was above the weak point, the souls straining against the magic that held them trapped. She lifted her spear and plunged it through the mildew-stained fur, hearing the colossus’ crying protest. It rotated its shoulder, trying to shake her off. After two and a half of these fights, she was beginning to get used to how the giant beasts behaved. But she doubted that they would all be this predictable.  
She stabbed the wound again, and felt the magic cave, souls held in place by the final chain, anchored to the colossus’ torso. Her spear broke as she ripped it free and she threw it aside with a grunt. She had four more, which would hopefully be enough. Perhaps the second colossus had unusually thick skin, hence why it had broken so many of her weapons.  
 _Steady goes..._ she just had to crawl back up the beast’s arm, down its back, and drop onto its stone waistband. For such a tall creature, it had surprisingly narrow hips.  
It was easier said than done. The beast had stone ringing its torso, and the platform she would have to drop onto was broken and crumbling in places. She would have to jump down and around the armor on its ribs or back to get to the weak point…  
Perhaps it would be easier to jump from its arm, but as it walked it swung greatly, and shook erratically. She hesitated at the thought, but neither one of her options were good. If she timed it right, or waited until the colossus stopped walking and its arm stabilized, she could make the jump.  
It would have to do. She crawled to the beast’s elbow and crouched, eyeing the distance between her and her destination. The colossus was walking, arm swinging methodically. She waited patiently until it stopped, and took the leap.  
She had forgotten about the shaking. It started just as she pushed off, and her feet were sent sideways, leap falling short. Her hands reached desperately for the edge of the stone platform, but she was nowhere near it and plummeted to the ground with a painful thud. She landed roughly, on her hands and knees, vibrations jarring her bones and making her gasp. The colossus began to turn around, noticing that its antagonizer had fallen from its arm.  
 _Oh no, no..._ She forced herself upright and ran from the beast, cradling her aching wrist. She couldn’t tell if anything was broken, but it throbbed enough to worry her. She would have a much harder time climbing with her wrist injured, but she was so close, so tantalizingly close. She couldn’t turn back now; her wrist, if indeed broken, wasn’t going to heal in fifteen minutes. But if she got the piece of her soul back, the energy would heal her. She had to continue the fight.  
At least she knew how to climb the beast; that part was easy. She ran on fleet feet as it swung its weapon at her, and timed her movements better so as to avoid being thrown to the ground by the thunderous impact. The stone blade sank into the earth and she ran up its length, up to the beast’s shaggy forearm. She replaced her spear over her back so she could use her other hand to hold on, keeping her injured one tucked to her chest.  
The colossus began to walk, and she took her crouched position at the top of the broken stone cuff at its elbow. She knew better now than to jump immediately; she would have to wait until it stopped shaking before she took the leap. And then it would start walking again; her window of opportunity was very small.  
But it came anyways, and she took it with a cry. She sailed into the open space, hands reaching for safety. Her feet hit it first, scrabbling on the stone surface, and her hands found fur to cling to. Stabbing pains shot up her injured wrist and she hissed in displeasure. The act of gripping did not hurt as much on its own, but the torsion the beast inflicted on her arms when it shook her was very painful. She could see the infected skin of her wrist beginning to redden and swell; it was probably broken.  
 _This must be it, then._ She shuffled to the belly of the beast, where the weak point was glowing brightly in her mind, centered on the snaking torso. She gripped the fur and drew the spear back, point dead-center. The metal tip sliced through the living skin with her fury behind it, and the colossus howled in pain. It shook, and bright agony flooded her injured wrist as she was tossed about. She screamed and dropped her spear out of reflex, taking hold of the fur with her good hand and cradling the injured one to her chest. The weapon bounced off the stone platform and tumbled away, embedding itself in the dirt below.  
Her breath was coming in ragged gasps, lip bleeding from where her crooked teeth had accidentally bit it. The throbbing pain in her wrist was awful, like the bones had been cracked down the middle and pulled out of alignment. The colossus shook again, flailing its arms about. The crooked stones of its malformed hand passed dangerously close to Monolith’s position.  
 _I have to finish this!_ She was losing her strength, her ability. The next spear was drawn from her back with a shaking hand. She couldn’t hold the colossus with her broken wrist, not when it shook. The injury would make her hand fail.  
She rammed the spear into the wound and held on for dear life.  
The colossus howled again, stumbling. The magic bonds were so near to shattered, so weak. It shook as if in a tempest, Monolith clinging to her spear by one hand, hoping feverishly it wouldn’t break. A crack spidered out from under her hand and her eyes widened with fear, but her feet found the platform and she dropped to her belly, gripping with her entire body until the shaking stopped. The spearhaft was bent, two sides held together by only a few splinters of wood. She ripped the head free and the force broke the rest of the wood, sending the broken end spiraling away. The beast was going to shake again; there was no time to draw another spear, so she plunged the broken head back into the wound, feeling the magic bonds give way to the sharp edge.  
The colossus spasmed, head thrown back. It’s body tilted, tipped, arms limp, and it plummeted towards the ground, dragging Monolith with it. She fell from its torso and landed awkwardly, falling to her knees as sparks of pain ran up her legs. Her muscles were shaking, protesting the great exertion the fight had taken.  
She curled into a little ball, clutching her throbbing wrist. The joint was hot to the touch.  
Ribbons of light were extracting themselves from the colossus’ corpse and speeding rapidly off into the sky. Monolith found her mind full of too much pain to try and call to any of them, save her own, which came drifting over on its own accord. Where the silvery tendrils touched her skin, her tired muscles stopped aching. One wrapped around her wrist and the swelling slowly began to fade, pain fading with it. Upon her forearms, guards of stone formed, half-cuffs covering the top of her arm from wrist to elbow. Healthy skin and fur shone around their edges.  
Monolith closed her eyes in relief. That fight had been the hardest so far. The colossi were becoming smarter and stronger, hoping to beat their tiring antagonist. Each escaped piece of soul could heal their host of injuries of the body, but not of injuries of the mind.  
Her foot suddenly bumped into something cool and solid. Surprised, she opened her eyes to find the object. Her gaze fell on the shine of metal, half-buried in dirt, the hilt and blade of a great sword.  
No, her sword.  
Memories suddenly flashed through her mind, memories of war and battle. She rode through the frays with blazing steel, cutting down enemies left and right. From some she stole fractions of their souls, to make herself stronger, before slaying them. It was a delicate process to steal a piece of a soul; many of her trapped foes she killed by accident while attempting to do so. It felt criminal, but Dormin was doing the same thing, and this was the only way to become stronger than he.  
There had been humans in the fight too.  
~


	7. Blades and Horses, Pt. 2

Blades and Horses Pt. 2

The memory ended suddenly, leaving her wide-eyed. Humans had been fighting in the war...on her side. Against Dormin. They too believed his acts of resurrection were unnatural and horrific, and were willing to back up their beliefs with the sword.  
Her hand grasped the hilt of her long-lost weapon with wonder and pulled it from the dirt. The metal shown flawlessly in the misty light, not a scratch or nick to its name. It was a great, double-edged sword, narrowing about two-thirds down its length before widening again to a spearlike tip. The edges were razor-sharp all along the blade, like it had never been wielded before.  
Oh, the wondrous craftsmanship of the Higher Lands smithies...she could faintly remember a great, hulking figure, wearing an oil-smeared apron, beating a blade into shape with a hammer made of enchanted metal. The weapons made with that hammer never dulled, never broke.  
She frowned. Her people had weapons made for themselves sometimes, but they also had weapons that were just as much a part of them as their limbs and hearts. Her sword was one such weapon, an extension of herself created by the energies of her soul. So, whose sword was that she remembered?  
Her mind did not yet have that answer.  
She stood, taking the sword with her. It was heavy in her hand, almost cumbersome.  
 _I barely have the strength to wield it!_ Frustration bubbled in her chest. She pulled the remaining spears from the bundle on her back and threw them aside, using the now-empty bindings to lash the sword to her back. She must’ve had a nice scabbard for it a long time ago, but this would have to do for now, until she got something better.  
 _Hopefully the sword does not cut itself out of the bindings..._ even as she thought it, she knew it would probably happen. She’d have to fashion something tougher to hold the blade once she got back to the Shrine.  
Mono was waiting for her, on the steps of the Shrine.  
Guilt immediately struck her upon seeing the mortal woman, standing on those steps with arms crossed and face frowning. She was waiting with a stern patience, and didn’t speak until Monolith had ascended the steps to her position.  
“Where’d you get the sword?” she asked cooly.  
Monolith looked away, unable to bring herself to lie to the woman. “I fought another colossus, my lady.”  
Mono didn’t look surprised. “I was worried about you.”  
Monolith’s eyes widened. “My lady, I meant not to cause you worry.”  
The woman uncrossed her arms. “And what if you had been killed? I would have waited here for days, wondering where you had gone. I know nothing of these sixteen beacons I can see. I had no idea where you had gone to. I never would have found you.”  
Monolith’s guilt deepened. “I am deeply sorry, my lady, but it was for your own safety. The third colossus was on a platform up high, surrounded by water. You would not have been able to cross the lake, and even if you somehow did, there would be no safe place for you to watch me fight. The beast would have seen you, out on the open plain.”  
Mono looked away. Both their arguments seemed to have merit, and she was too preoccupied in her thoughts to want to pursue the disagreement further. While Monolith had been away, she had rested, and wished to approach her situation with a calm, rational mind.  
Her gaze drifted to the hilt of the weapon. “So, this is your sword, I assume, which you have mentioned before.”  
Monolith nodded. “It is my sword, an extension of my being. If I were to throw it away, walk across this land, and call to it, it would appear in my hand. But if the fraction of my soul that powers it is torn from my body, the sword belongs to whoever has the piece.”  
“Did all the gods have weapons like this?” Mono asked.  
Monolith grimaced. “I do not quite remember. I am sure they did...we also had great smithies in the Higher Lands, and great armories, though those weapons were more for decoration.”  
The woman had walked behind her to get a better look at the large blade. “It...it looks a lot like an ancient artifact I once read about in a textbook.”  
“An ancient artifact?” Monolith questioned. “What of it?”  
“It was in the collection of Lord Emon,” Mono replied. “It was called the Ancient Sword, and was from a time beyond that of memory. The shape of your blade is almost exactly the same...but yours is much larger.”  
The memory of the smithing flashed through Monolith’s head again, and her eyes widened. “That sword you speak of was made by my people. It was a gift to the ancient humans.”  
“That’s interesting,” Mono said. She sounded like she was brooding over something.  
“I don’t remember why,” Monolith told her. “I just remember it was a gift. During ancient times, when we and the mortals lived in harmony, such exchanges were symbols of our good relations.”  
“A sword is a particular gift,” the woman mused. “It is not benign. It is a deadly weapon.” She looked up at Monolith. “The Ancient Sword was said to have magic powers.”  
“What a strange gift indeed,” Monolith agreed, voice quiet.  
They were silent, lost in their own thoughts. Mono’s child gurgled from her back, preoccupied with playing with a leaf.  
“I need to fashion a crude scabbard,” Monolith broke the silence. “These bonds hold my blade for now, but with any sudden movements, the sharp edge may cut them.”  
Mono nodded. “That seems wise.”  
“I will be going to do that, then,” she declared. “I will carve from the wood of a tree a crude but working scabbard.”  
“I’m coming with you,” Mono told her. “You are not getting another chance to run off on your own.”  
Monolith’s shoulders drooped. “Very well, my lady. I will not protest your decision. I hope you understand what it means for your own safety.”  
“I understand more than you think,” Mono replied curtly. “Perhaps, when your memory returns, you will remember that humans are not as weak as you seem to think they are.”  
Rightfully rebuked, Monolith bowed her head. “Yes, my lady.”  
“Let us go to the forest, and seek you a scabbard,” the woman ordered. “After we are done, you can rest amongst the trees, if you wish. Then we must be continuing our quest.”  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~★~~☾~~☀~~☾~~★~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
“I have never seen such a place of beauty.”  
Mono was staring at the rolling green beyond the ravine, eyes wide with wonder. The lush fields spread as far as the eye could see, edged with trees and the rising cliffs. In the center of the verdant pasture was an earthen structure, a low rise of stone with a small, square doorway. There were four of these structures, arranged in a cross.  
“My memories of this place are clouded, but it reminds me of the sacred burial grounds of the Higher Lands,” Monolith said. Mono’s face darkened a little at the mention of ‘burial grounds’.  
There was a winding path that led along the cliffs, providing a natural bridge over the rushing ravine. The grass grew thick on the path, making their footfalls soft.  
“The beings of the Higher Lands rarely ever died,” Monolith continued, almost to herself. “When one did, they were honored with shrines and crypts, decorated with paintings and sculpture. There were no bodies to bury or burn, like you humans do, so these crypts do not look like those of your people.”  
“So when you die, you just…vanish?” Mono inquired.  
“Sort of,” Monolith replied. “Many a great being died to my sword in the war. Some turned to dust, others to smoke. One even exploded into a cloud of spiders that quickly scuttled away to safer places.” She shuddered at the memory. “A god’s soul can create a lot of spiders.”  
“Sounds disgusting,” Mono muttered.  
They entered the verdant field, sound of rushing water fading away as the approached the earthen structure. The stone bricks that made up the doorway were dusty and worn, no inscriptions or decorations to signal what the structure could’ve been.  
“Is the colossus down there?” Mono asked, voice edging on nervous.  
“No,” Monolith replied. “It’s beyond this structure. You should be able to see the beam of light, no?”  
“I can,” the woman replied tersely. “I just wanted to make sure.”  
Monolith ducked her head and stepped inside the structure. The roof was low, low enough that she had to stoop, though Mono fit just fine. The stairs led downwards to a short hallway, upon quick inspection, it was obvious that the hallways led to nowhere. That is, they formed a square, stairs on each corner.  
“It is very dark down here,” Mono said. “But these walls look plain.”  
“The passage of time would have worn away any paintings,” Monolith told her. “Though perhaps were are missing something, with my eyes as feeble as they are.”  
They exited the structure on the other end, walking up the stairs back into the warm sunlight. Monolith greeted those rays with joy; the darkness made her nervous, especially when her own eyesight was already so poor.  
The beast was very near. She looked to the mortal woman with some uncertainty; the gaze did not go unnoticed, and Mono’s expression hardened. Monolith quickly looked away and ducked her head apologetically.  
The corpse of the colossus was just beyond the exit to the crypt, sprawled beneath a blanket of dirt and grass. The lush growth was already creeping up its sides with determination.  
“It looks as if it came from the crypt,” Mono noticed, pointing to a set of round prints in the dirt, almost lost beneath the thick grass. “Nothing else could have left prints like that.”  
“Well, it didn’t come from inside the crypt,” Monolith muttered. “That is for sure.”  
She knelt and put her hand to the side of the mound. The souls inside were gathered in angry bundles, foes avoiding each other like the plague. She could feel the deactivated magic, wrapped like chains around the immobile corpse. There were bits of different energies interspaced with the magic – stitches holding the gaps closed. She recognized the energy as Dormin’s.  
 _Foul being, so cruel as to spend precious time making sure only he escapes this prison!_  
His energies only showed up in specific areas; she wondered if those areas would correspond to the weak points on the reawaken colossus.  
“You should seek the shelter of the crypt,” she advised Mono. “I do not know what this beast will be, but I am sure it cannot reach you there.”  
“Keep these depths in mind,” the woman advised as she backed into the structure. “They may serve you some purpose in this fight.”  
Monolith nodded with determination and turned back to the mound. Closing her eyes, she called forth her soul. Its energies melded with the dormant magic, healing its wounds. Dormin’s energies were thrown off the magic and faded into the sky.  
The ground shook as the colossus threw off its coat of earth, head jerking up. Thin, pointed feet planted themselves in the earth, making deep furrows. A stony hock swept past Monolith’s vision; she jumped at it, searching for a handhold, but her claws skated off the tough stone. She landed between the beast’s hind feet. It’s legs were long and entirely stone, with no edges or surfaces that looked climbable.  
 _I should be used to this by now. No intelligent individual would create a beast like this that could be easily climbed from the ground._  
The colossus shook its short tail and snorted, sounding quite like a horse. It turned its long neck to look back at the small creature between its feet. Heavy-looking stone whiskers hung from its snout, swinging with every movement of its head.  
Monolith quickly moved to safety, away from the beast’s feet. It was turning, meaning to face her. The more she looked at it, the more it reminded her of a mighty horse. It reminded her of the injured mare back in the Shrine.  
 _I should try to find myself a piece of a healer’s soul, if there are any. By myself I have no powers of healing strong enough to fix such a serious lameness._  
She darted around the beast, keeping it on the move. Her sword was strapped across her back in a crudely-carved wooden sheath, but she dared not to try and wield it while she ran; it was too heavy, and she feared it would trip her up.  
 _It has no obvious weaknesses._ The colossus perplexed her; it stood on such narrow feet, but yet balanced with the ease of a veteran gymnast, even as it reared up to try and stomp on her. It reminded her of the last colossus, standing so tall and gangly on rounded feet. Feet made completely of stone, unable to be injured.  
 _I must be cunning, like with the last._ Though this colossus had no weapon to run up, nothing besides its feet touching the ground.  
She ran back to where Mono was hiding, halfway down the stairs of one of the crypt entrances. The structure shook with every step the colossus took, walking on the ground above their heads.  
“What is your plan for this beast?” Mono asked, eyes nervous. She was holding the child in her arms; the infant was crying.  
“I think I’m going to try to climb its whiskers,” Monolith replied, looking over her shoulder. “I’m going to bait it away from this crypt and then back. I think I can grab them if I jump from the top of the doorway.”  
Mono’s face suddenly went pale, staring beyond Monolith’s shoulder; the colossus was crouched above the entrance, muzzle blocking out the light. One glowing, orange eye stared right at them as the beast nickered aggressively. Its dangling whiskers were visible.   
“Well, this is as good of a time as any,” Monolith decided, and sprang for the entrance, running up the stairs on all fours.  
She flew through the doorway, powerful leap carrying her through the threshold. Her hands wrapped around the rough stone of the whisker, locking on tight. The colossus jerked its head back, rising quickly. Monolith swung freely on the end of its whisker, feet scrabbling for purchase. Her toes wrapped around the large, stone disc at the end of the whisker and she pushed herself upwards, climbing towards the beast’s head.  
The colossus snorted, bucking. It danced away from the crypt, now more preoccupied with the creature on its face than the woman inside. Monolith inched up the whisker, reaching the point where it connected to the beast’s stone mask, behind and below its eyes. Those glowing orbs were bright orange.  
Monolith waited until the beast was between shakes and jumped off the whisker, hands grabbing the carved edge of stone that ran around its face. The first weak point was just above her, on the top of the beast’s head. Its stone mask flared up in the front, creating a low wall around the top of its skull, but the sides were open. She made another jump up, hands wrapping around the edge, and pulled herself onto the top of its head.  
She lay flat on her belly, trying to regain her breath while the beast shook and neighed in protest. Once it was done, she felt brave enough to reach one hand to her back and withdraw her sword.  
The gleaming blade scraped free from its sheath, sharp edge nicking the wood. Monolith dragged it around to the front of her, laying it flat on the colossus’ fur. The beast bucked again, and she momentarily feared for the life of her fingers when her blade slipped closer to her other hand.  
 _I used to be such a good swordsman. Look at me now._ Anger fueling her, she got to her knees and lifted her weapon, point aimed towards the center of the weakpoint she could sense. With fury, she drove the blade down, sinking half its length into the colossus’ skull. The beast screamed a high pitch, grating against her ears. She yanked her sword free and held on tight as it bucked, grey fluid spraying from its head.  
It was much more satisfying to be using her own, proper weapon instead of those crude spears.  
She stabbed the wound again, and felt the magic break. The colossus shook again and she was thrown down hard, air leaving her lungs. Once she got back to her feet, she shakily resheathed her sword, almost stabbing herself in the back in the process. The broken magic was pulsing painfully beneath her fingers, drawing energy from other, unbroken bonds to hold itself together.  
 _This point was major. The spell is barely holding together._ The other weakpoints on the colossus were thin and small; they would break with one blow.  
They were at the base of the beast’s neck, on either side, a bit of a precarious position. A thick cuff of stone around its neck blocked her path, but she scrambled up its sloped surface without much problem. The drop to the other side was sheer; it was obvious that the cuff was meant to protect the beast’s head from an attacker on its back, but not the other way around.  
Monolith paused for a break upon the beast’s shoulders, climbing off its thinner and violently-shaking neck. Once she did, it seemed to calm a little, though it still eyed her with one angry gaze, head turned sideways.  
The lateral edges of the cuff around its neck were flared and decorated like spreading wings. Monolith couldn’t help but smile a little, struck by the careful design. _If you weren’t trying to kill me, and I to you, I would say you were a beautiful creature._  
Strength regained, she made for the right side of its neck, crawling rapidly. The colossus noticed her movements and snorted angrily, feet bracing for another mighty shake. She weathered the tremor, face set grimly, and plunged her sword into its neck when it was done.  
The colossus screamed again, sound almost heartbreaking. It didn’t sound like a terrifying, stone beast; it sounded like a terrified horse.  
Monolith grimaced, withdrawing her sword and moving to replace it over her back. As precarious of a position as she was in, the colossus was making her feel bad.  
The tip of her sword missed the scabbard and sliced into the patchy-furred skin on her back; she cried out in sudden pain, losing her grip on the hilt. It tumbled away from her, though she snatched the air blindly in its wake.  
 _No!_ Her fingers latched onto nothing; her blade was gone. Blood was dripping down her back from the wound, though it felt relatively shallow. She twisted, trying to see where the sword had fallen to, and then remembered.  
 _It’s just as much a part of me as my arms and hands._  
She crawled back to the colossus’ shoulders, trying to ignore her throbbing wound. Reaching her hand out, she called to her blade.  
Part of her soul glowed brightly inside her, and the hilt materialized in her hand, weapon returned. She exhaled in relief, lowering her arm. That could’ve gone much worse.  
There was but one bond to break, the trapped souls beating against their cage with anger. Monolith crawled to the left side of the colossus’ neck, sword still in hand. She moved slower, but was too scared by her last fumble to try and resheath it again. She centered herself over the weakpoint and drove her blade down, the colossus’ final cry lashing at her ears.  
The beast spasmed, legs buckling. It threw its head back one, final time as the light left its eyes and they became empty, black pits. Monolith threw herself free of the collapsing colossus, positioned as she was on the side of its neck that was hurtling towards the ground. She landed and rolled, yelping as she jarred her wound. But she had avoided being squashed beneath the colossus, so that was positive.  
The colorful tendrils of souls were prying themselves free of the corpse, darting off in all directions. She tried to pick a healer out of the mix, but they moved so rapidly and she recognized so few of them. The pain of her back distracted her, and the other souls quickly vanished into the sky.  
Her own soul fragment floated over to her, looking almost concerned. She really needed to stop injuring herself in these fights; the fragments were not impressed by having to return to such a battered body.  
The tendrils absorbed through her skin and she exhaled in relief as the wound on her back closed. Very carefully, she resheathed her sword and stood up, feeling refreshed.  
The skin and flesh of her muzzle was changing. Two whiskers sprouted just below the stone form of her nose, thin lengths ringed with stone. They appeared heavy, but floated lightly as if unaffected by gravity, undulating faintly. Her sense of smell increased tenfold, and suddenly she became aware of the scents of emotions.  
The entrance of the crypt smelled of nerves and curiosity. Mono was peering out of it, staring at the dead colossus. The child on her back smelled of unhappiness.  
She snorted and shook her head, shoving the sensations to the back of her mind. Unhappiness stank like sour milk; she didn’t want to smell that right now.  
The mortal woman was approaching, eyes still fixed on the corpse. They flicked to her once she got close, some astonishment in their depths.  
“I watched the beast run and bound from the safety of the crypt,” she said. “You were tossed and thrown like a leaf in a storm, and yet you look all the better for it.”  
“The energy of my soul healed me,” Monolith replied. She looked down at her legs and feet; her fur was starting to grow back on her knees and shins. The infections in her skin were almost gone, the scabs and sores healed, though she feared some of the smell still lingered. If it did, Mono was very good at being polite about it.  
“You are beginning to remind me of one of the great, northern bears I read about as a child,” the woman told her. “Though you are still skinny as a sapling, you have the face of a bear. Minus the whiskers and the horns.”  
Monolith felt her face absentmindedly; she was growing tufts of fur on her chin. “Just as I don’t remember my name, I don’t remember my face. Well, I remember a rough image of it. But I didn’t know I had whiskers. And the horns...”she absentmindedly patted the golden spirals. “They aren’t mine. They’re a friend’s.”  
“You should spend some time by the streams of this place, and remember it,” Mono suggested. “It will return to you eventually.”  
Monolith nodded, sifting through the newest round of memories returned to her. They were mostly benign, memories of her past life in the Higher Lands, lounging with the other beings of that realm. Most of them pursued lives of leisure, but many had jobs to do as well. She fondly recalled spending time in lower realms, debating policies and treaties with their inhabitants. Each good relationship she fostered between peoples filled her heart with warmth. She spent much of her time in the Shrine and in other buildings, walking amongst the people who lived there.  
Her eyes widened and she snapped out of her trace. “Humans used to live here,” she said. “I can remember them now.”  
“Did the gods not live here as well?” Mono asked. “In all the history of my people, we have never lived amongst the gods.”  
“The gods made residence in the Higher Lands, but this was the one piece of the mortal earth they could walk freely on,” Monolith replied, more memories surfacing. “An ancient treaty between gods and humans. We shared this land as a symbol of our everlasting union, a union of peace and prosperity. This was a holy land, a pilgrimage site, where one could come and see the gods in person. They gave us gifts and worship, and in return we ensured their good harvest and long life. And we shared our magic with the world, so the humans could use it.”  
“The practice of magic is strictly regulated now,” Mono said. “One must have a license to practice, and a good reason too. Healers, blacksmiths, and charm-makers mostly. And their powers are not very strong.”  
“With the deaths of so many gods, magic would have begun to leach out of this world,” Monolith told her. “We are the source of all magical energy. The Higher Lands are suspended by our magic. If all the gods were to die, the Higher Lands would fall to earth.”  
Mono gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. “You must be jesting. The sky itself would fall?”  
“It was a solemn truth all of my people learned very young,” Monolith said. “It was why dueling was forbidden. Sacrifices were forbidden. All life was sacred, and not to be abused. That is why Dormin’s crime was so great...not only was he breaking the most sacred law of nature, but he was throwing away mortal lives like they meant nothing. And when he was confronted, he was willing to kill us to have his way. Despite all he knew.”  
“What a foul being,” Mono muttered darkly. “He would risk his homeland, and mine, to have what he wanted.”  
Monolith nodded sagely. “Though now, with the fragmented souls of many gods freed from their prison, magic may become stronger. There are still many animals that live within the Higher Lands; those souls that chose to return will probably find one to inhabit, and thus the gods will be born anew, though in weakened fragments. Perhaps that is for the best…”  
“We should return to the Shrine,” Mono suggested. “My nerves have been frayed. I need to rest, and regain my composure for the next fight.”  
“You still wish to accompany me?” Monolith asked, voice depressed.  
Mono gave her a sharp look. “I am not a weak-willed merchant’s daughter, worth nothing more than a dowry.”  
Monolith hunched her shoulders. “I would never suggest such a thing, my lady. Do as you wish.”  
Mono nodded firmly and started back towards the Shrine. Monolith sighed, shook her head, and followed the mortal, wondering where in the colossi she would finally find the woman some self-preservation instincts.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~★~~☾~~☀~~☾~~★~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	8. Lakes and Ruins Pt. 1

Chapter 3: Lakes and Ruins

“There must be more rooms and places within this great building, I imagine?”  
Monolith was seated with her back to one of the rooftop garden’s pillars, sword laid across the ground in front of her. She had the scabbard in her hands and was trying to figure out a way to make it safer for her to use, so she could avoid stabbing herself in the back again.  
“Of course, but much of this place has collapsed,” she replied. “Passages have caved, and doors have been jammed shut. Stairs have crumbled.”  
Mono had recently finished nursing the strange infant and was walking around the garden, looking through its roof towards where the rest of the Shrine rose higher. “How come the building still stands? All the ruins here are older than anything I know of.”  
“Magic,” Monolith grunted. “The gods and humans built these places together. The war destroyed a lot of it...not enough magic remained to keep whatever was left standing in one piece.”  
Mono was silent for a while, continuing her slow pacing around the garden. One of the nimble fawns bounded by her, chasing a dove.  
“Don’t ask me about the animals,” Monolith grumbled. “I have no bloody clue how they got here.”  
“That sword looks almost too big for you,” the woman said in reply, coming around the side of the pillar.   
“I probably used to be bigger,” Monolith replied, irritated. “Bigger, stronger, and more capable. What kind of pathetic being stabs themselves in the back with their own sword?”  
Mono knelt down next to her. “No human could wield something like that. So it must be a god, then, that can. Since you seem to think so little of us, you should be reassured that you are at least better than we are.”  
“I am a shadow of my former self,” she growled. “Barely worth being called a ‘god’. And I don’t think so little of humans…”  
Mono gave her a look. “Perhaps you shouldn’t project your insecurities about yourself onto other people, and then you won’t.”  
Monolith ground her teeth together audibly. That one hurt.  
“Don’t you humans discourage women to talk so frankly?” she said through her clenched teeth.  
“We do, but I’m smart enough to know when to be a good little girl and when I don’t have to,” the woman replied. “And, last time I checked, there wasn’t a man around to tell me what to do. So I’m going to tell you, you need to stop feeling so sorry for yourself. It’s painful to watch.”  
Monolith threw down the scabbard, anger knotting in her chest. “I am not - argh!” she couldn’t bring herself to defend her sullen mood, because she knew Mono was overwhelmingly right. Instead, she crossed her arms over her chest and pouted, stony brows low over her eyes.  
“You’re ridiculous,” Mono snorted. “I didn’t know gods were so childlike.”  
Monolith snarled and threw her arms up, getting to her feet and storming away from the woman. “Leave me alone!”  
Mono compiled, and Monolith curled up in a corner of the garden, fuming. Her whiskers were pinned back against her cheeks, stiff with anger. The acrid scent the emotion produced was overwhelming.  
I really am acting like a child.  
She risked a glance over her shoulder, seeing Mono half-hidden behind one of the pillars. Her sword and scabbard were in front of the pillar, untouched.  
Her pride hurt. And that seemed to be a strange thing to feel, seeing how down on herself she had been. A moment ago, it would have seemed like she had no pride left to be wounded.  
I am not scary enough? I thought the humans feared the gods. But even as she thought it, she knew it wasn’t true. The ancient humans certainly hadn’t; respected, yes, but never feared. There wasn’t much of a reason for the modern humans to either, seeing how most of the gods had been forgotten to time. If she had to guess, she’d say that the modern human only read about the gods in books, and heard about them in sermons. But their long absence from memory would have relegated them to nothing more than mystical idols.  
She wrapped her arms around her knees, ruffling the regrowing fur. Mono was over by Agro now, petting the mare’s nose. The horse smelt of pain, but of happiness and love at the same time. It was such a pure, beautiful scent.  
 _The animal is more noble than I._ Monolith shoved the scents out of her mind, but she couldn’t help but look over at the creature, who was watching Mono with liquid eyes.  
 _The horse knows her. There is no doubt._ And if the horse knew Mono, then Mono probably knew who the rider had been. But, so far, she had been very vague and tight-lipped on the subject. Monolith felt an urge to bring up the subject, to try and dig at the woman, but it faded as fast as it had came, replaced by guilt.  
 _This fighting is pointless._ She was wasting her time, and her energy. She stood and walked back to the pillar, kneeling to pick up her blade.  
“We should be going to the next colossus,” she said, voice level and eyes unreadable. Mono looked over her shoulder and nodded in agreement.  
They walked out of the Shrine in silence, Monolith leading the way. She didn’t look back at the mortal woman, but kept her eyes fixed to the east, where her soul was calling. The only sound besides their footfalls was the occasional babble of Mono’s strange child.  
Monolith hunched her shoulders. The child still made her uncomfortable.  
They entered a path along the cliffs, the wind whistling past their ears. The stone wall to their right threw long shadows, their coolness making Monolith’s skin crawl. The shadows in this place seemed unnatural, as if they had some ounce of consciousness to them. She could sense this mysterious presence with new certainty; it smelled of ice and wind.  
The path wound onwards like a serpent, eventually turning from the cliff and into a narrow pass. The fuzzy outlines of ruins were visible to Monolith’s eyes, and her soul called from somewhere within. She could smell water, fresh water.  
They reached the edge of a lake, the water coming upon them quite suddenly. There was no way to continue but swim; the ruins were far out of reach. The bank was a steep cliff, providing no easy means of returning to dry land.  
Mono stopped and took a seat at the edge of the bank, saying nothing. Monolith didn’t bother to look at her; if the mortal wasn’t going to say anything, then she wasn’t going to waste her breath either.  
She stepped to the edge of the bank and dropped to a crouch, staring at the water. Her eyes were too weak to see how deep the lake was; the water was a dark, obscure sheen. There was no point in waiting around, so she took a breath and dove right in.  
The chill hit her like a slap to the face. She spluttered a bit upon resurfacing; Mono definitely snorted at her struggling. She ground her teeth together and swam away, heading for a low arch in the ruins. It looked like her only way through.  
She took a breath and dove, entering the arch. Chunks of stone had broken off here and there, making the facade irregular. The rest of the ruin was lost to the dark depths. She moved quickly through the arch, lungs protesting at having to hold their breath.  
 _You lasted over two thousand years without taking a single breath, and now you complain about a few seconds underwater? I despise being this earthly mortality._  
She resurfaced on the other side, a tower rising in front of her. A carved ladder ran up its side, which she gratefully climbed, glad to be out of the cold lake. At least she left behind only a small cloud of dirt and dead skin in the water, compared to the horrific pollution she had been shedding before.  
The ladder led up to a bridge, crossing more of the dark lake. The bridge connected to another tower; she ascended a short staircase and walked onto its fence-lined balcony, marveling at the ruins spreading around her. Pillars and towers rose from the water, moss crawling up their sides. The building she stood upon rose yet higher, grand arches and spires holding on to their last bits of ancient glory. The lake itself was quite large, nestled in a bowl formed by the imposing cliffs.  
The piece of her soul was somewhere in the lake, hidden amongst the ruins. She wasn’t looking forwards to more swimming, but it wasn’t like she had a choice.  
The iron fence surrounding the balcony had a gap in its bottom, where a corner of stone had crumbled away. She dropped to all fours and crawled through the gap, pressing her belly to the ground to avoid scraping her back on the jagged fence. She tumbled headfirst into the water and swam away with a kick of her feet, moving under the surface of the water.  
It was eerie and dark in the lake; she felt like some levithan might rise from the depths and swallow her. She pushed aside the thought and kept swimming; hopefully the colossus would have scared away any other monsters.  
She rounded a ruin and stopped, surprised. The moss-covered corpse of the colossus was floating on the surface of the lake. Made of stone. And floating.  
She rubbed her eyes, making sure she was seeing correctly. The magic of the vessel must’ve been strong enough to counteract physical law...magic had a way of doing weird things like that.  
 _I guess it is sensible...perhaps the colossus cannot swim well, so they made it to float. These ruins may have been dry when the colossi were first created as well...perhaps they did not plan to have their arena flooded, and the poor beast became trapped when it did._  
Either way, she wasn’t looking forward to fighting in the water. Her swimming was painfully slow, and she doubted she could dodge blows from her foe with efficiency. Hopefully, she could wield her sword well enough to parry them.  
The beast looked strangely small, but much of it was hidden under the water. She swam up to it and set a hand on its surface, stone with almost the texture of leather, growing moss and mildew. The fur on the beast’s back was soggy and clogged with pond scum.  
 _Ew._ She hauled herself up onto the soggy surface, the corpse bobbing unsteadily. She had the chance to get on top of the beast before it was even awake; might as well take it.  
She knelt and put her hands to the surface below her. The souls were swirling around angrily; they didn’t like being stuck in the water.  
 _I call you back to life!_  
The colossus jerked sharply, water around it surging. Its head erupted from the surface, bucking wildly. Monolith was thrown sideways as the beast flailed, body rolling.  
 _It has wings!_ The colossus was beating its avian appendages against the water’s surface. The magic on its wings was very taut, the kind of spells required to give the stone beast the ability to fly complicated beyond what Monolith thought would be possible for humans. A swimming colossus, sure. But a flying one? That was magic of a very high degree. Some of her own people weren’t even capable of flight, and they were many times more powerful than humans.  
Fly it could, but the colossus wasn’t very good at swimming, mostly moving in circles. Monolith almost felt bad for it as it flailed, emitting cries like a trapped hawk.  
The colossus’ taloned feet found some broken piece of the ruins below it, and it surged upwards, body breaking through the surface. Its wings beat downwaters, free of the grip of the water, and the colossus sprang into the air. Monolith was buffeted from its back by the sudden movement, hands slipping from the wet fur. She tumbled head over heels back into the water, bouncing off the colossus’ long tail as she went.  
She resurfaced, watching the colossus fly away. _Curses. I guess nothing can be easy._  
Despite its size, the avian beast was very good at getting lost amongst the ruins. Monolith swam after it until she realized it was a lost cause; she snorted, shook her head, and turned for the nearest piece of dry ground.  
The colossus came screaming around the corner of a ruin, water in front of its wings thrown into the air. Its stone talons kicked forwards; Monolith yelped and dove under water as the beast passed overhead. It squalled angrily, flapping away to turn for another pass. Monolith dragged herself into an archway in one of the ruins; the colossus went blazing by the entrance, wind buffeting through the tunnel.  
 _If I had my wings..._ Monolith impatiently cut off the thought. She’d killed the first three colossi with sharp metal bars attached to tree branches. She had a pretty good track record so far, despite her seemingly hopeless situation.  
 _And a mortal did it, so…_  
She peered out of the tunnel. The colossus was circling above the lake, more peaceful now that its quarry had gone to unreachable places.  
 _I need to get on it somehow. Either by jumping from the ground or disabling the magic it uses to fly._ While the colossus had still been a corpse, she had seen how intense its magic was. It took a lot of effort and careful design to make a stone beast fly. Even after the damage it had sustained when the mortal had fought it, the magic had healed near to perfectly once it had been repowered. And it seemed to be working just fine.  
 _I haven’t yet gained my ability to harness magical energy, so I won’t be disabling anything anytime soon._  
She waited until the colossus had passed overhead, and dove from her shelter, hiding in the shadow of the ruin. She flipped over to her back as she swam, so she could watch for the colossus’ return. It eventually appeared over the top of the ruins; upon spotting her, its eyes glowed angry orange.  
Perhaps when it dove, she could grab onto one of its feet…  
A good idea, but not a fruitful one. The colossus moved alarmingly fast, and its talons were smooth stone, nothing to get a grip on. Instead, she found herself thrown along the surface of the water, skipping like a stone. Her chest felt like someone had thrown a brick against her sternum.  
The colossus was swooping around for another pass, so she dove under the water and let the shadow fly overhead. She needed solid ground, something she could jump from. But none of the ruins seemed suitable for that.  
All of a sudden, there was a wall of stone bricks in front of her. She stopped suddenly, reeling with surprise. Her weak eyes hadn’t spotted the structure through the murk of the lake, even when it was only a few strokes away. She resurfaced, spluttering, to see what the structure was.  
Three squares of stone, in a line, flush with the surface of the water.  
 _Well, I think these will be useful._  
She hauled herself onto one of the platforms, shaking her wet fur miserably. The colossus passed by overhead, shrieking. It flapped to the edge of the caudera and tilted its wings to turn.  
Monolith quickly stood up, bending her knees. The colossus swooped downwards, stone beak opening savagely. It flew at her like a bullet, talons kicked forwards and wings extended wide from its body. The water of the lake surged up around it, pushed away by the wind of its passing.  
She leapt for the beast, eyes fixed on the green-tinted fur on the front of its wings. Her hands contacted the mildewed surface and latched on tight; she was thrown down against the beast’s wing, its momentum barely disrupted by her impact. The colossus pulled into a climb, wings beating downwards, lake shrinking away below them.  
Monolith found herself frozen with fear and shock as the beast climbed; it was only once it began to flap its wings, threatening to toss her off, that she regained the movement in her limbs. Her heart was pounding against her ribs, her chest still emaciated enough that the rapid movement was visible.  
 _Flying is a wonderful experience, but only when you’re the one with the wings!_  
The colossus leveled out, wings stabilizing. Monolith dragged herself onto the beast’s shoulder, feeling for the nuances of its magic. The energy was concentrated on its wings and tail, the portions of its body necessary for flight. At the tips of its wings and tail, where its body was thinnest, the magic was stretched tight, nearest to the surface.  
 _Of course the weakest points on this beast aren’t on its body...that would’ve been too easy._ Monolith winced as the colossus shrieked, sound grating her ears. The streaming fur on its back ran all the way down its long tail, but not all the way down its wings. She would have to make a run for each wingtip, praying that the beast did not choose that moment to flap.  
 _Maybe we should handle the tail first…_  
She oriented herself with her nose to her chosen destination, trying to ignore the constant dropping feeling in her stomach. The colossus’ long tail was held out straight behind it, tilting ever so slightly whenever the beast ruddered. Monolith waited until the colossus completed another turn away from the rising cliffs before starting to move, loping on all fours down its back. She kept her eyes fixed on the end of its tail, refusing to look down as she left its body behind.  
She felt like she was running down the length of a ribbon. It was terrifying.  
The end of the colossus’ tail was a round, almost fanlike shape, with five serrated points. Had Monolith been in a safer situation, she would’ve been fascinated to study the aerodynamics of the beast and how it flew, a mix of magic and physics. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.  
She drew her sword from her back, wind whistling with a piercing hum around the edge of the blade. The colossus shrieked, almost as if speaking to the sound. It flapped once, almost making Monolith drop her sword. She ground her teeth together and drew her weapon back, sourly cursing her shaky hands.  
She drove the sword through the beast’s tail, rewarded by an ear-piercing shriek of pain. The colossus tucked in its wings and dove into a spiral. Monolith, this time, actually did drop her sword.  
She regained her grip on the bleeding tail, growling in frustration. Once the colossus leveled out again; she held her hand out. Her blade dutifully reappeared in her fist, and she drove it through the tail for a second, then third time. The magic snapped beneath the blade’s biting edge and the colossus flapped frantically, ruddering lost. The magic from its wings quickly spread to its tail, stabilizing it. The colossus had gone into another death spiral in the meantime, though this one was more of an uncontrolled tumble. It pulled out of its fall just above the surface of the lake, close enough that Monolith saw their shadow on the rippling surface.  
She hastily sheathed her sword over her back and started to climb back up the colossus’ tail. She paused for a rest on its back, surveying the length of its wings. From the best she could tell, it did not flap often, preferring instead to glide, conserving its magical energy. It flew back and forth across the lake, turning once it encountered the walls of the caldera. It never once tried to approach the exit to the ruins, the path that ran away from this flooded place. Something held it here, more tethers of magic.  
Probably a good thing; the humans would probably be terrified if a giant, stone bird swooped over their village.   
The beast had leveled out, completing a turn. Monolith inhaled deeply and ran for its left wingtip, practically diving onto the patch of fur. She clung there for a moment, regaining her composure, and withdrew her sword from her back. The bird chose that moment to flap, and she yelped like a scared dog as she was tossed about, clinging on by just one hand. The colossus leveled out, and she plunged her blade through its wing, withdrawing it quickly so she could hold on with both hands as the beast screamed and flipped upside down. The fluid spraying from its wing was vanquished almost immediately by the fierce wind that was whipping around them.  
The magic had already been broken, with only one strike. Giving the colossus the ability to fly had made it a dangerous foe, but also a glass cannon.  
But Monolith still had one more wing to pierce, across two stretches of unforgiving stone. And the colossus was beating its wings with even more ferocity, magic just able to keep it airborne.  
She judged her next move the best she could, waiting until the beast had leveled out and seemed unlikely to flap in the next few seconds. She bolted for its back, feet hitting the stone surface of its wing. She had misjudged; the colossus lifted its wings in preparation for a powerful downstroke and she was thrown onto its back. She bounced and rolled, skittering towards the edge of the beast’s back. Her hands clawed for a hold desperately, and she just barely managed to grab hold of a handful of fur, stopping her fall. Her feet kicked out into empty air; she ground her teeth together so hard she felt blood spring up from her gums. Bending her arms, she hauled herself back onto the colossus’ back and to safety. She lay flat on her belly, panting while her heart pounded out of her chest. Her whiskers were whipping around her face in the wind, stone beads whacking obnoxiously against her cheeks.  
 _Too close. Way too close._  
She shakily got to her feet. There was only one spot left for her. She could do it.  
The colossus leveled out, wings spread wide. She bolted for the end of its wing, dashing on all fours. She dove to safety, grabbing the fur of the wingtip just before it dipped away from her, the stone beast tilting into a turn. Her feet skittered and she slid towards the far-away ground, fur twisting under her hands. The colossus completed its turn.  
She withdrew her sword from her back and plunged it through the beast’s wing without hesitation.  
The blade pierced through the fur and flesh, breaking through the underside of the wing. She ripped it free, grey fluid spraying from the jagged wound. The colossus gave a strangled cry, wings locking up. It tilted forwards and began to fall, light gone from its eyes.  
Monolith held on tight to the stiffened wing, praying that the body of the colossus would soften her impact against the surface of the lake.  
The beast broke through the water with a resounding crack, like it had struck against solid ground. The impact travelled through its body, hitting Monolith so hard she lost her grip on its wing. Her sword went flying out of her hand, cutting through the surface of the lake and vanishing.  
She went tumbling into the water, flailing her arms. She resurfaced with a splutter, trying to find where the colossus had gone to.  
The stone corpse hadn’t bobbed to the surface yet, but there were colorful tendrils streaming from the water, so she knew where it was anyways. She paddled over to the zone, searching for souls she recognized.  
 _My friend!_ There was another gold tendril amongst the masses, and it was hanging near the silvery pieces of her own soul. She reached her hand out, inviting the fragments into her body. Her own soul approached joyfully, the golden one trailing behind. It followed her soul through her skin, joining with the other fragment of itself.  
She felt something shift amongst the pieces of her soul. There were now more masculine pieces than feminine.  
Monolith lifted his head, feeling a warmth run through his body, dispelling the cold of the water. His spine was elongating, forming a tail. It resembled the tail of the colossus he had just slain, and he knew it was his own.  
 _A tail by which to rudder, but yet no wings._ He was disappointed; a soul with the ability to fly would have surely resided in that colossus, helping to stabilize the magic it used. Flight was no small feat, even for the gods.  
 _At least I can say I am halfway there. Wings without a tail was just as useless as a tail without wings._  
And the tail was helpful for another thing; swimming.  
He kicked his legs, lunging forwards in the water. He undulated his tail, and it sped him along the surface with great speed. When he returned to the low arch that had led him into the flooded arena, he dove smoothly and swam through the tunnel with the efficiency of an otter.  
He burst from the water on the other side, shaking his head to shed the water from the whiskers dangling from his muzzle. Mono was sitting on the top of the steep bank, looking down at him, holding the strange child in her arms. She looked away after a moment, saying nothing.  
Monolith poked along the edge of the bank until he found the easiest place to climb up. Once at the top, he shook himself vigorously, chasing the water out of his patchy fur. While his limbs were still mostly hairless, his pelt had grown down his back from his head to the tip of his tail. There were two furless slashes between his shoulders, where his wings should’ve been.  
He stood up, shoulders high, and walked over to Mono. She looked up at him as he approached, expression hidden.  
He could sense that she was still annoyed with him. And he was still annoyed with her.  
“I think you grew taller,” she said.  
He looked down at his feet, patchy hair growing on his shins. “I probably did.”  
She got up, replacing the horned child in the carrier on her back. “I could see the colossus from here. I never would have expected one to fly.”  
“It was a feat of magical engineering,” Monolith said. “The magic that went into that beast was extraordinary.”  
“I can’t believe he killed all these things,” Mono muttered, quiet enough that another human wouldn’t have heard, but Monolith did.  
He looked back to the lake and held out his hand. His sword reappeared in his grasp, and he held it with renewed strength and balance.  
“I acquired another piece of my friend’s soul,” he said. “He was not split into nearly as many pieces as I, and I wonder if I will be able to fully reconstruct him. Though I have no physical body to offer to him as a vessel.”  
“A soul without a body is but a ghost,” Mono said, repeating an old phase she had learned from her mother.  
“A human soul,” Monolith corrected. “A soul of greater power has more sway.”  
“But still, in the grand scheme of things, is but a specter,” Mono replied.  
Monolith dipped his head. “You speak true, my lady. Now, we should get going.”  
~


	9. Lakes and Ruins Pt. 2

They began the walk back to the Shrine, maintaining the somewhat-uncomfortable silence they had arrived in. Mono seemed steadily unconcerned with the matter; she smelled of cool neutrality. But there were hints of turbulence.  
 _She is indeed a steady creature._ Monolith felt a little guilty about his unwanted coddling treatment towards the mortal, but he wasn’t about to apologize. Not while his pride was still hurt from her words.  
“Have you remembered anything else?” she finally asked as they walked the cliffside path.  
Monolith shook his head. “My friend’s soul had nothing but peaceful memories of the time before the war, as did mine. My memories of my life of peace are almost complete.”  
“When will your memories become fruitful?” Mono sighed. “Dormin was vanquished by the humans, but they were unable to kill him, so they cut him into sixteen pieces, which they sealed inside the colossi. My ancestors dedicated their lives to defeating him.”  
“And yet, he was still powerful enough to convince a human to free him,” Monolith grumbled. “With all the souls he had amassed from my allies, he must have been unspeakably powerful. Too powerful for the humans to slay.”  
“It is a cruel fate indeed, for my people to have tried so hard, yet foiled so easily,” Mono muttered. “I wish I had not this part to play…”  
“If not you, then someone else in the future,” Monolith told her. “Another thousand years, another thousand chances. Magic is strong, but never unbreakable.”  
“And where are we now?” Mono said, voice edging on helpless. “What of Dormin? We can tell he was not reborn, for if he was, the world would be in chaos. He is the most evil of gods. But such a being cannot simply vanish!”  
“I pray something befell him, and he was slain,” Monolith growled. “He deserves no less.”  
“I pray for the safety of my people,” Mono whispered. Her eyes were squeezed shut.  
Monolith bowed his head. “He may be hiding out in the Higher Lands, seeking a body to possess. The magical energies of our homeland nourish our souls and clear our minds. The other souls freed from the colossi have all gone there, to recover from their terrible imprisonment. After such a long time in chains, the soul is weakened.”  
“How does one get to the Higher Lands?” the woman asked.  
“Godly souls can freely access the Higher Lands,” Monolith told her, “but a godly body requires the heart of a soul to transcend. I also require my ability to fly.”  
“Can humans go to the Higher Lands?” she asked.  
Monolith shook his head. “The magical energies are too strong, and would destroy a mortal body.”  
“Too bad,” Mono said. “I would have liked to see Dormin’s demise, though if he is up there, I guess I cannot. To see it and know it is real, and that my people are safe.”  
“You refer to your people,” Monolith inquired. “Are you some sort of royalty?”  
The woman looked suddenly secretive. “I have allegiance to my kin, friends, and acquaintances,” she said ambiguously. “I care about them as if they were all my own.”  
She smelled of guilt. And of sadness.  
Monolith looked away. Unraveling the mystery of Dormin was one thing; this woman was a completely different game.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
“Blasted lizard!”  
Monolith dove after the reptile just as it’s silvery tail vanished around the corner of the small shrine, hitting the ground with empty hands. Mono was standing nearby, arms crossed with a sort of unamused expression.  
Monolith shook his head angrily, letting out a huff. The had been wandering for quite a long time, first through a heavily-wooded grove, and now on the edge of a great expanse of desert. In the woods, they had been going in circles unwittingly, unable to find the path out. The tall trunks and thick growth made traversal difficult, leading to nothing but frustration.  
Monolith peered around the corner of the shrine; the lizard had climbed up its side, staying out of reach from the ground. He reached up and grabbed the edge of stone projecting from the shrine, pulling himself up. The lizard was sunning itself on the wall of the building, still just out of reach. Monolith crouched, eyes fixed on the reptile. He jumped, feet scrabbling against the wall, hands reaching. The lizard squeaked and ran, little feet in a flurry. Monolith’s fingers came down on its tail; it detached and the rest of the lizard ran away unscatched.  
Monolith frowned, clutching the tail. I guess this will have to do.  
He was still chewing on the morsel as he descended the shrine, returned to where Mono was patiently waiting for him. She was looking out towards the desert, where the sun was bright and ruins projected from the sand like the masts of a sunken ship.  
“There’s another beam of light out there,” she said.  
“I can’t see it,” Monolith replied. “But I do feel a piece of my soul out there. It’s call is weak.”  
He was currently focused on a strong call coming from the south. Walls of stone, both natural and unnatural, rose around that point, hiding it from sight.  
“I have been thinking,” Mono said as they approached the rising cliffs. “Every colossi you kill, you release all the souls from within it, and they rise dramatically into the sky. They are going to the Higher Lands, like you said, and there they can rest and regain their strength. If two pieces of the same soul encounter, can they reassemble themselves, even without a host body?”  
Monolith nodded. “Most likely, if they recognize each other. The souls I have released will be seeking each other, and bodies as well. Though the gods have been gone from the Higher Lands for a very long time, the magical creatures of that realm should have persisted. They will make for weak hosts at best, but hosts nevertheless.”  
“So the gods may return,” the woman questioned carefully.  
“Indeed,” Monolith replied. “And that is why it is of utmost importance that I regain my powers. Many of Dormin’s supporters were trapped inside the colossi with him, and now that they are freed, they may try to reassemble. I must return to the Higher Lands and restore order, before they have a chance to regain their strength.”  
“You have regained five parts of your soul,” Mono mused. “By the time you have regained them all, all the gods will be freed as well. Will it not be too late?”  
Monolith shook his head. “Even with my soul intact, I will not be at my full energies for many days. Neither will they, and I have the advantage of not having to search for the pieces of my soul once they are released.”  
They had reached a crumbling ruin, a temple front set into the rising cliffs. The facade was tall and severe, columns and piers separated by empty arches. There was a path open at its base, blocked in part by many collapsed stones. Beyond the cave-in, stairs led downwards, below a grand arch decorated with geometric designs, a great sunburst at its center.  
Monolith’s eyes set on the sunburst. “I know these symbols,” he said. “This temple belongs to one of my greatest fellows, a being of warmth and life. He brought together the dust of one thousand comet tails, shaped it into a ball, and breathed fire into it, creating the sun.”  
“We have a legend like that,” Mono told him. “But the god trapped himself inside the ball of dust and fire because he was hiding from his wife, the moon.”  
Monolith snorted decisively. “Hiding from the moon? That’s ridiculous. They weren’t even married.”  
“Do you remember what happened to the sun and moon gods?” Mono asked.  
Monolith’s eyes glazed over, trying to remember. “No, no I can’t.”  
He hopped over the first set of fallen stones, pausing to make sure Mono was able to follow. She climbed somewhat awkwardly, balancing the infant on her back, but refused his offered hand nevertheless. Feeling a little snubbed, he hopped off the stone and started down the stairs, beneath the great sunburst.  
The stairs wound downwards, broken in places and littered with pieces of stone. Here and there, blocks had fallen from the walls, providing more obstacles to climb over. Hopping over them, Monolith hit his tail against rough edges once or twice, forgetting to hoist his reacquired appendage over the ground. He flicked his tail irritably, trying to shake off the sting of a particularly sharp stone, and only succeeded in slapping it against the ground, making the ache intensify.  
 _Bloody hell. Do I really need this thing?_  
He was so absorbed in his irritation he almost walked off the edge of the ruins, where the building suddenly expanded into a great balcony, overlooking a shattered courtyard.  
“By the gods…” he heard Mono mutter behind him. At the end of the courtyard was a massive, slumped figure that could only be the slain colossus. It had left a trail of shattered stones and rubble in its wake.  
“It has certainly made a mess of this place,” Monolith commented. “You should stay up here, my lady. It is a long climb down.”  
“I do agree with that,” the woman replied, and took her seat at the edge of the balcony. The infant on her back babbled and waved its arms, asking for attention.  
Monolith, still feeling acutely uncomfortable with the child, quickly began his descend down, a dizzying crawl to the torn grass below. He moved hand over hand, feeling too unsure to try and move much faster than a sloth’s pace. The wind whipped briskly around, but not strong enough to shake him from his perch. He reached the ground unscathed, pausing for a moment to massage his fingers.  
It was a long walk to the corpse of the colossus. It must have shattered through the many rows of stone that intersected the courtyard; what else could have broken them? The jagged edges were fresh, unworn by wind and rain like the rest of the ruins were. Monolith crossed the rubble, feeling his heart start to beat anxiously.  
The colossus was slumped in an unrecognizable pile, covered in sprigs of grass. It had fallen in front of a long, covered porch, the end of the courtyard. It must have chased the human here, and then met its fate.  
 _The human must have used the cover of the porch to some advantage._ A good note to make, for it would probably be necessary.  
Monolith knelt next to the corpse, putting a hand on the dusted surface. The souls inside were sitting grumpily, segregated as usual into their two groups. He could feel the piece of his, glowing strong. It responded to his touch, straining against the bonds that held it.  
 _Then come alive, and break free!_  
The mound shuddered as the colossus reawoke, dirt spilling from its sides. Monolith darted into the shelter of the porch, crouching against the back wall as the beast rose. It rumbled deep in its chest, massive hands flexing. It stood up fully, shaking a head adorned with a most impressive beard.   
_It does not know I am in here._ The beast seemed unconcerned, facing away from the covered porch. It took a step away on its stone hooves, ground shaking. Monolith tiptoed forwards, bow in hand. He drew an arrow, aimed for the beast’s broad back, and fired. The shot hit true, and the colossus snorted angrily, head swinging around. Monolith replaced his bow over his back and bent his knees, preparing for the beast’s attack.  
It took a step towards the porch, eyes turning orange. One hand made a slow swipe at Monolith; he quickly stepped back, into the full shelter of the porch. The colossus followed him, grumbling. It seemed confused by the porch, hiding from view the small creature that had attacked it. With the sound of stone grating against stone, it crouched down to peer between the columns, putting its left hand against the ground.  
The pendulous beard was almost brushing the ground. Monolith had no doubt about what the human had done.  
He bolted for the beard, leaping from the ground and latching onto the long hairs. The colossus jolted back, surprised by the sudden movement. Monolith wasted no time, scrambling up to the beast’s shoulder. From there, he could feel the magic pulsing beneath his feet, strained thin in three places.  
 _On his hand?_ Well, that would certainly be tricky. The nearest spot was atop its head, unsurprisingly. Monolith clambered to the spot, unsheathing his sword. The colossus bucked mightily, tossing him about. He yelped and gripped tight, managing to keep his footing. When the colossus abated for a moment, he plunged his sword through its skull, rewarded with a great fountain of grey fluid. The magic bent, but didn’t snap, so he stabbed it again, the colossus bellowing in pain.  
 _One down!_ He half-climbed, half-fell to a safer place at the base of the beast’s neck. The next spot was on the left side of its back, quite low down. Should his hands become weary, he would have to climb back up the beast’s back to find a place to rest.  
 _I should pace myself._ He waited until the colossus had finished its round of shaking, and started to descend. The fur down its back was interspaced by ridges of stone, blue-grey in color. The mottling of its earthy skin was almost beautiful.  
 _Unfortunate._ Monolith had no qualms about driving his sword into the creature’s back, except for when it flung him around mightily. He gritted his teeth and held on until he could stab again, feeling the magic break. He retreated to his safe perch on the beast’s back, feeling a little more confident in himself than he had in awhile.  
 _This is going...alright._  
But the last weak point was on the back of the beast’s left hand, and there was no clear path for him to climb down the thick, leathery arm. A ring of stone rounded its bicep, and others around its wrist. Besides those items, there was nothing else to grab onto.  
Monolith edged to the front of the beast’s shoulder, hands and feet gripping the stone that guarded its shoulder. The colossus was walking, arms swinging with each step. He watched the left hand move forwards, then back.  
He pushed himself off the shoulder, hands reaching. The arm swung forwards, and he bounced down its length, missing the ring around the bicep but landing just above the stones around its wrist. He managed to grab them just as the colossus snorted and lifted its hand, trying to spot the interloper on its wrist. He quickly skirted around the ring, making his way to the back. The colossus shook its hand angrily, and he was tossed about. His tail slapped the back of the beast’s hand, and he felt the magic pulse angrily.  
It was very strained, being the only point at which the magic was still intact. He drew his sword from his back, letting himself swing downwards with the motion of the colossus, and stabbed the great blade through its hand. The beast bellowed in pain, muscles tightening. Its head was thrown back, and it took a last, stumbling step before tilting towards the ground, colorful souls spilling from the puncture on both sides of its hand.  
Monolith was tossed, landing ungainly. The piece of his soul practically slapped him across the face as it entered his body, so excited it was to be reunited with its host. He grunted, stumbling to his feet. His legs felt heavier, and when he looked down, he could see rings of stone appearing above his knees, stacking themselves upwards to form armor for his thighs and hips. With the armor came heaviness, but also strength and confidence.  
He inhaled deeply, sheathing his sword over his back. The other souls were untangling themselves above the colossus, and shooting off into the sky.  
His eyes widened, spotting a green tendril. Wait! He cried, reaching out to the fragment. He recognized it. It was a healer’s soul.  
 _I need your help,_ he pleaded with the tendril, which had paused in its climb into the sky. _I remember you. You were always behind our armies, ready to throw yourself into danger to save the injured. You were a hero. I have another soldier that needs healing._  
The soul drifted uncertainly towards him, considering its options. It was only a fragment, and for sure the rest of itself was out there somewhere, if it went looking for it. But it recognized the being standing before it as its commander.  
The tendril wound around Monolith’s outstretched hand, snaking up his arm. It absorbed through his skin, and he felt infused with great energy and comfort.  
The healer’s memories flashed through his mind. Running from shattered building to shattered building, dragging the injured to safety, energy flowing from his hands to heal them. The roof above him exploded, and he was thrown to the ground. Stone rained down above him, trapping his legs. A great shadow reared overhead; Dormin.  
Monolith broke free from the memory with a gasp. He shivered angrily, wrapping his arms around himself. _Despicable coward, stealing the souls of peaceful healers._  
He started back for the towering wall, the figure of Mono just barely visible at the top. The climb upwards seemed a lot farther now that he was at the bottom, rather than at the top.  
 _Bother._ He wasn’t going to get to the top by complaining. Better start climbing.  
He hauled himself onto the balcony, panting with exertion, whiskers drooping. He dragged himself away from the edge and flopped down on his belly, limbs splayed.  
“Long climb?” Mono asked coyly. Monolith grumbled angrily, tail twitching.  
Once his legs no longer felt like jelly, he stood and brushed the dust from his chest, preserving what pride he had. “I have obtained a piece of a healer’s soul,” he told the mortal woman. “I can heal your horse, I believe.”  
“Then we must move quickly,” Mono replied. “I want her to suffer no more.”  
They fled back to the Shrine with great speed, almost unbelievable for a woman carrying an infant and a god with only part of his soul. They crested the wide steps of the grand building with heavy breaths; they had not spoken a word during the journey, so fast they had been walking.  
“Learn anything else important?” Mono asked between breaths.  
“Dormin is scum,” were the only words Monolith could manage to get out.  
They climbed to the rooftop garden at a much slower speed, Mono pausing to smooth out her dress, almost too self-consciously. Or at least Monolith thought it was too self-conscious.  
The horse was standing in a circle of doves; when they approached, the birds fled. She raised her head and nickered, eyes bright despite her pain. She hobbled over to Mono, who took the mare’s muzzle in her hands.  
Monolith knelt next to the mare’s injured leg, placing his hand on her flank. He could feel the pulsing of the blood through the injured site, the shattered bone unsuccessfully trying to reform. The horse had another fracture in the same leg, and a small one in her hip. They were slowly wearing her out, the pain drawing the life from her.  
Monolith shut his eyes. _Such a brave beast deserves to be treated like a true hero, not left to die in banishment._  
Energy flowed from his hands, palms glowing green, like new growth. The energy had the warmth of the summer sun, the sweetness of a flower’s scent, and the briskness of flowing water. It wreathed around the injuries; bone mended, tissues sealed, and inflammation vanished. The mare snorted, head lifting and eyes brightening. Monolith took the splint from her leg and she tentatively pressed her hoof to the ground. Feeling no pain, she nickered with great joy, head turning to observe her healer with thankful eyes. The scent of her joy was so strong it was almost overpowering.  
Monolith placed his hand against the mare’s cheek. “Anything for such a brave creature as you.”  
“Her name is Agro,” Mono told him. “I can’t recall if I told you that before, but you should know.”  
“It is good to make your acquaintance, Agro,” Monolith said to the horse. “I hope your memories are clear, for once I can read them, I am sure you hold many answers.”  
After that act of healing, he felt drained. Moving from the horse, he took a seat against a column. “I must rest,” he told Mono. “Healing takes much energy from the soul. And I would like time to reflect on my journey so far.”  
“Take whatever time you need,” Mono replied, petting Agro’s nose. “I can rest easier now that Agro is healed.”  
Monolith tilted his head back against the column. “That horse means a great deal to you, does she not? Is she your horse?”  
“Not really,” the woman replied, averting her gaze. “I didn’t do a lot of riding in my lifetime.”  
Monolith looked away. “She belongs to the person who brought you here, to bring you back to life. That as much is obvious.”  
“Of course,” Mono muttered. “Of course he would.”  
“You sound like you do not like this guy,” Monolith quipped. “An unwanted suitor, was he perhaps?”  
“It’s more complicated than that,” the woman replied tersely. “And I don’t really want to talk about it right now.”  
“As you wish,” Monolith bowed his head respectfully. “I won’t press”  
“Thank you,” Mono whispered, looking away. “I just need time. I can explain once I feel better about the whole situation.”  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	10. Dark Depths Pt. 1

Chapter 4: Dark Depths

Monolith was awoken by Agro nuzzling his face. He batted the mare’s nose away with one hand, blearily opening his eyes. The horse was watching him carefully, almost playfully. Mono wasn’t in sight.  
He sat up, rubbing his eyes. Despite all the fights he had won, all the pieces of his soul he had regained, his vision was still cloudy.  
“How long have I been asleep for?” he muttered, as if the horse could reply to him. She snorted, shook her mane, and walked away.  
“You’re looking better.” Mono walked around the column he had been leaning against. She was holding a skewer with a roasted lizard on it; the scent of mostly-burnt meat was sharp in the air.  
“How long have I been sleeping?” he repeated, slowly pushing himself to his feet. Indeed, he felt better, the rest the first true sleep he had taken since emerging from his stupor on the windswept beach.  
“I can’t really tell, with how the sun doesn’t move, but if I had to guess, I would say ten hours,” the woman replied. “Enough time for me to gather the godly fruit from the nearest tree, and catch a few salamanders.”  
Monolith glanced at the burnt lizard she had in her hand, and his stomach rumbled, despite the unappealing smell. “I am quite hungry…”  
“As predicted,” Mono said, turning away. “Come, I have some of the fruit prepared.”  
Agro trotted back up to Monolith, butting his shoulder with her head. Now that he was strong enough to stand up straight, he was taller than the mare. She nudged him again, as if trying to push him to follow the mortal woman.  
He did so, coming to the half-log that was their makeshift table. She was seated, having set the halved fruit and skewered lizards in neat order, making what formalities she could of their situation. He sat down opposite to her, stone armor on his legs clacking. He was glad to have some of his old gear back, but it made him feel a bit...clumsy.  
“Where does the next piece of your soul lie?” the woman asked, handing him a piece of fruit.  
“North,” he replied. “A good distance, I believe.”  
“Now that Agro is healed, we can move much faster,” Mono said. “We no longer have to walk.”  
“Is she strong enough to carry the both of us?” Monolith asked doubtfully. “I am yet very thin, but I would guess I still weigh much more than the people she is used to carrying.”  
“I am familiar with her breed,” the woman replied. “They are large and strong horses, able to run long distances over all terrains. While they are no draft breed, they are able to bear great loads. Unless you think you can run as fast as she?”  
“Doubtful,” Monolith snorted. “In my prime, easily. But we are far from that point.” He took a large bite of the fruit; it was sweet and juicy.  
“Then we shall ride,” Mono declared. “It is such a bother to walk these lands; the terrain is too rough and the distances great.”  
Monolith finished the slice of fruit. The woman had set one of the burnt lizards in front of him; he eyed it with great uncertainty, but not wanting to seem rude, he picked it up and took a small bite. The charred flavor assaulted his tongue, and it took a lot of willpower not to spit out the morsel.  
His nose had wrinkled at the flavor, and Mono had noticed. “I was never the greatest cook,” she admitted. “It always disappointed my father how I struggled.”  
“A woman who cannot cook makes for a bad wife,” Monolith quoted. “Not, not that I necessarily believe that. I knew plenty of women who didn’t cook, and were still great people.”  
“But too many people do,” Mono said heavily. “But that is of no matter now. Let us not dwell on it.”  
Monolith, feeling sorry for his lack of manners, took another bite of the lizard. Small bones crunched between his teeth, just as charred as the rest of the meat. He forced himself to finish the meal. Food was food, even when burnt.  
Mono had finished her meal as well, and was preparing Agro’s saddle, wiping the dust from the leather. “Have you ridden a horse before, Monolith?”  
“I never had a reason to,” he replied, “but I do have a faint memory of racing pegasi as a child. We kept a tame herd in the Higher Lands, bred to be fast as the wind and strong as thunder.”  
“It seems like most things of the Higher Lands can fly,” Mono commented. “Though I am sure there are plenty of monsters yet unknown to humanity that do not.”  
“Those that can fly are the ones that can cross between this world and the Higher Lands,” Monolith told her. “That is why you can find them here.”  
The woman pulled herself onto Agro’s back, sitting sidesaddle. She gestured for Monolith to come over, holding out the reins to him. He put a foot in the stirrup a little nervously, taking the reins. He hauled himself into the saddle; Agro took a few sidesteps, but still seemed comfortable with the weight on her back. He pulled on the reins gently to turn her, and she walked out of the garden, following the sloping ramp into the Shrine.  
“I once read about a terrible beast called a werewolf,” Mono said from behind Monolith. “Do you have those in the Higher Lands?”  
“I cannot remember,” Monolith replied. “Have you ever seen a werewolf?”  
“No,” the woman snorted. “I would have had to wander far out of the village to find something like that. I have just read about them.”  
“I would not believe everything you read,” Monolith cautioned. “Humans are storytellers. And your minds are too easily tricked.”  
Once down the stairs of the Shrine, he urged Agro to a canter. She snorted and obeyed stretching out her legs. The smell of her joy, at being able to run again, was sweet on the air.   
“She can run faster,” Mono called. “I won’t fall off.” She was gripping Monolith’s shoulders tight enough for him to believe her.  
“I still think we weigh too much for her,” he replied.  
“Oh, stop it with all your concerns,” Mono scolded. “I thought you only had an issue with the strength of humans, but now I see it is all mortal creatures!”  
Monolith hunched his shoulders, feeling a little targeted. “I am just looking out for her health…”  
“She will be fine,” Mono insisted. “Though do as you wish. You are the one with the reins.”  
“That I am,” Monolith agreed, and refused to urge Agro any faster. Mono sighed and rolled her eyes.  
They wound their way through the canyons, dipping in and out of shadows. The stone walls opened up as they curved to the left, and thin pillars of stone rose above the landscape, a few becoming many. They passed by a broken spire, and the dirt beneath Agro’s hooves turned to stone bricks. Monolith pulled her to a halt in front of a low, stone wall, the scent of brine harsh in the air.  
“There is an archway,” Mono said, pointing. “We can ride on.”  
“I will walk,” Monolith replied, dismounting. Mono shrugged and moved forwards in the saddle, taking the reins.  
He walked through the archway, hearing the horse follow behind. His nose had not betrayed him; the stone path led out into a great lake, another flooded caldera like the one inhabited by the flying colossus. He glanced around nervously, but no creatures were adrift on the winds.  
 _Of course not, stupid. The colossus here is dead._  
The stone path led to a broken tower in the center of the lake, a ramp spiraling around it. About halfway to the tower, the path became rugged and broken; Mono pulled Agro to a stop and slid off her back.  
“This seems like a good place to watch from,” she commented, peering at the water.  
“You better hope this beast cannot break stone,” Monolith snorted.  
“If it didn’t before, then why would it now?” she replied. Monolith grumbled under his breath and turned away.  
The lake was very dark, water murky and uninviting. He made his way to the tower, jumping down the broken path. Reaching the spiraling ramp, he made his way upwards, to get a good vantage point on the lake. The surface was moved only by the wind, and his clouded eyes could not spot the shape of the colossus. But the pull from his soul was very strong; it had to be here.  
There was but one thing to do. He took a breath and leapt from the tower, diving through the dark surface with a splash. The chill assaulted his limbs, colder than he had expected. The water was too dark to see anything beyond a few feet in front of his face; it was clogged with mosses and plankton.  
He surfaced, getting his bearings. This colossus didn’t seem to float like the bird one had, but judging by the pull of his soul, it also hadn’t sunk very far either. Or the lake was just shallow, but he doubted that.  
He dove back under the surface, beating his tail against the water. Its broad surface propelled him forwards with great speed, slicing through the murk like an otter. He found the body of the colossus quickly; it was floating about twenty feet under, its mass unrecognizable. He swam to the surface above it to take a breath and try to formulate a plan.  
 _It can swim, undoubtedly. And probably better than me._ A stone monster wouldn’t need to breathe either.  
He dove back down, almost running into the back of the beast. He grabbed two handfuls of the moss-ridden fur and shut his eyes, calling the colossus to life.  
The beast shook, body rippling. Three points of light blazed into existence, and Monolith was blasted from the creature’s back by a powerful electric shock. Stunned, he floated to the surface, shaking the spasms from his limbs. The colossus had vanished, save for three glowing points of light, deep under the surface.  
 _And it can shoot lightning._ Putting a colossus that used electricity as a defensive weapon in a lake was a pretty ingenious idea, except for the fact that the lightning was magical in origin. Magical lightning could only travel as far as its caster could sustain it for. Seeing how Monolith wasn’t currently being electrocuted, the colossus’s range was probably pretty short.  
He swam along the surface, following the three points of light. Judging by how they moved, the beast was long and thin, like an eel. He took a breath and dove again, heading for the lights.  
The electricity made his skin tingle when he got close; he stopped in the water before he came within the deadly range. He could just barely make out the beast, swimming away from him. The tingle faded a little, and he swam after the colossus. It was moving relatively slow, and he caught up with its tail in a short time.  
The electricity was emanating from a long spike protruding from the beast’s back, glowing with energy. Monolith reached out and grabbed hold of the fur below him, feeling the powerful magic of the creature.  
 _It has one weak point, on its head. But the magic that produces its electricity is separate from the magic that holds the souls captive; there are three vessels of it, one for each spine. And the vessels are close to the surface._  
But they could not be approached while submerged, for the electricity was too strong. He would have to get the colossus to surface somehow.  
He had a rough idea of what would work. He hefted his sword and plunged it into the beast’s tail, feeling the monster jerk in surprise. Pulling his blade free, he beat his tail and made for the surface.  
It had worked; the three points of light were following him. As the colossus neared the surface, he could see orange eyes, glowing from beneath the lightning, and then they dipped, the beast arching its back to expose the glowing spines. Monolith hastily swam out of the way as the spines came near the surface, but didn’t break it. The first, second, third spine passed, and then the furry tail broke the surface of the water. He darted for it and grabbed the fur, the colossus dipping back beneath the surface. His heart fell as the beast went into a dive, but then it surfaced suddenly, and the length of its broad back was revealed.  
 _This is my chance!_ The spines, exposed to the air, lost their deadly spark. The colossus’ fur was discolored where the magic wreathed, showing how the beast’s back was near to completely protected.  
He hefted his sword and darted for the first spine, racing the ripple running down the beast’s body. It undulated above and below the surface, rocking like a boat. The water kicked up by its passage sprayed against his face, like a salty rain. The taste reminded him of swimming beneath the ocean waves of the Higher Lands, where one could find seabound leviathans not unlike the beast he currently stood upon…  
He reached the first spine and dropped to a knee, plunging his sword into the base of the magical organ. The colossus roared and rocked, glowing light of the spine going dark. A great ripple passed through the beast and it dove; Monolith grabbed on tight to the fur as the lake washed around him. When in the water, the first two spines sparked to life, but the third was dark and still.  
 _Praise the faults of magic!_ It was so nice to see his plan working accordingly. Now, if only the beast would surface…  
It did, just as his lungs seemed ready to burst, and hands ready to let go unwillingly. He gulped great breaths of fresh air, pushed himself to his feet as steady as he could, and ran for the next spine. The beast rocked, and he weathered the movement like an experienced sailor. He reached the next spine and buried his sword in its base, feeling thrilled to see the glowing light vanish. Just in time too; the beast dipped underwater immediately afterwards. He clung to its back, eyes fixed on the blurred glow of the final spine. It was on the top of the colossus’ carp-like head; he was so close to defeating it.  
 _What piece of myself will I get back from you?_ He couldn’t recall having any powers similar to this fishy beast.  
The colossus was still deep under the surface, and his lungs were beginning to ache. He tightened his fingers stubbornly; he wasn’t about to let go of this beast and have to run down its length again.   
_Surface, you damn bastard!_ In frustration, with his strength waning, he plunged his sword into the colossus’ back. The beast wriggled, but kept swimming.  
His vision was getting fuzzy. His fingers, of their own accord, loosened from the slippery fur and he felt himself floating away, the beast passing by beneath him.  
 _Surface!_ Terror suddenly flooded through him, and he beat his tail with great strength, eyes fixed on the distorted light above him. He felt his lungs screaming; he wanted so badly just to open his mouth, and inhale…  
He broke the surface with a shuddering gasp, eyes rolling wildly in his head. He treaded water weakly, barely able to keep his head up, tongue lolling out of his mouth. Mono, up on the bridge above the water, yelled something unintelligible at him, leaning over the edge. He quickly snapped his tongue back into his mouth, not wanting to look like a fool.  
He then realized what she was yelling about; the colossus was barreling right towards him, electric spine cutting through the water.  
He beat his tail, dodging the deadly shock. The beast slid past him, and he found himself still too shaky to try and grab its tail. He let it pass, and continued to breath deeply, trying to calm the shaking in his limbs.  
The colossus turned for another pass, eyes glowing. He started swimming, eyes fixed back at it. It came closer, and he sped up, circling around it. The spine passed by him, and he dove, heading to intercept the length of the beast’s back. It curved up in front of him, dead spine rising into his vision. With a burst of speed, he encountered his target, hands locking around the spine. It was smooth, like a stone tumbled by waves, but his hands were large enough to wrap around it. He pulled himself down onto the beast’s back, and hesitated not a moment to give it a reminding poke.  
The colossus roared and broken the surface, water flying into the sky. Monolith stood and ran for the final spine, which was farther away than he had first calculated. The beast executed a short dive, and he took a flying leap, clearing the water that had washed over its back, covering about fifteen or so feet of its length. He may have imagined it, but he thought he heard Mono cheer.  
He hit the ground and kept running. The beast’s head dipped under and he stopped barely short of the deadly shocks; he dropped to a knee and held on until it surfaced again, and made the final bolt to the spine. Its glow went out with a snap when he stabbed it, and he was atop the head of the beast. There was but one weak point left, in front of the spine. The beast was almost done.  
He crawled to the spot; the colossus had stopped swimming and was thrashing around, bobbing its head in and out of the water. As it reared up, he drew his sword back and slammed it into the weak point, feeling magic fraying like rope beneath him. The beast cried, slamming its head against the surface of the lake, sending up great spouts of water. He waited patiently for his next moment, and drove his sword down again. The beast barely hung onto life, and with the third strike, he felt the stiffening tremor run through it, and ribbons of color spilled from its wound.  
He pushed himself off the sinking colossus, swimming back towards the stone tower in the center of the lake. The silvery piece of his soul followed him; it was tugging along another soul, a light pink streak. Or rather, the other soul was following his.  
He pulled himself onto the ramp of the tower, glad to rest his tired limbs. His soul eagerly passed into his body, and he felt warmth glow in his chest, shaking off some of the chill of the lake.  
The female pieces of the souls inside now balanced the male; Monolith had no gender.  
They looked at the light pink soul, which was still hanging around, seeming almost nervous. Monolith cocked their head; they recognized the soul, a minor god that had fought against Dormin. Strangely enough, the soul was nearly whole.  
“You got lucky,” they snorted at the soul. “Most of us who got stolen by Dormin ended up in smaller pieces.”  
The soul did a little swirl. “Oh, you want to share my body?” Monolith asked incredulously. “That’s very bold of you to ask of me. I was lucky enough to keep my body intact, and you want me to share it with you?”  
The soul looked downtrodden. Monolith felt a pang of sympathy for the thing, and they extended a hand. “Oh, alright, you poor creature. You may serve to be helpful, but this is my body, not yours, ok? You do as I say. And don’t mess anything up!”  
The soul excitedly jumped into their palm; they felt a jolt run up their arm with the impact, the energy of an intact soul almost jarring. And suddenly, their mind was flooded with memories. Intact memories, of things that the minor god, whose name was Seln, had experienced. Seln had been a minor female god, spending most of her life riding around on bolts of lightning, which she controlled to carry her to far-away places. And then, one day, she had come across a place…  
Her memory suddenly ended, in a surge of anger and horror. The next time it picked up, she was in front of a council of gods, telling them a terrible tale. A tale of a place, hidden in mountains, where Dormin had constructed a terrible machine…  
The memory ended again. What was the machine?  
Monolith strained to gain something else from the thoughts, but there was nothing. Nothing but more memories of war…  
Monolith heaved themselves to their feet and climbed back up the tower, working back to where Mono was waiting with Agro. As they walked, they made the decision to adapt their gender to that of Seln’s since now most of the pieces of soul their body contained were female.  
 _Not that one cannot be genderless...I knew many a great god who was._  
She reached Mono, still positively dripping wet from the lake. “I have picked up most of the soul of another god,” she said. “She remembers Dormin building a terrible machine. Something so bad, it sparked the great war that was the end of us.”  
“A terrible machine?” Mono questioned, getting onto Agro’s back. “And I’m guessing her memories are conveniently missing its identity?”  
Monolith nodded grumpily, getting into Agro’s saddle in front of Mono. “Of course it is.”  
“Hey!” Mono yelled, ducking. “Watch your spines!”  
“Spines?” Monolith questioned, twisting in the saddle. “What do you mean spines- Seln!”  
Three smooth projections were now sticking out of the fur of her spine, one one the back of her neck, one at the base, and the third between her shoulder blades. They glowed faintly, with yellow light. Seln’s soul was radiating incredible guilt.  
“I told you not to mess anything up!” Monolith crossly chided the soul. “Oh, you couldn’t help it. Of course you couldn’t, you sorry creature.”  
“Are you talking to yourself?” Mono asked.  
“No,” Monolith grumbled. “I am talking to the soul that grew me these spines!”  
“Whatever you say,” Mono replied, “but you really need to be careful back here.”  
Monolith nodded and shifted a little in the saddle, angling the spines away from the woman. “These better be useful, Seln. Otherwise I am going to kick you out.”  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


	11. Dark Depths Pt.2

Dark Depths Pt.2 

Monolith squinted, trying to see the rock she was aiming at. Seln’s soul buzzed impatiently inside of her, eager to prove her worth.  
“My eyes are bad, alright?” she grumbled, feeling rushed. “I cannot see to aim with any more skill but a novice, not at an object so far away! Why can I not aim for something closer?”  
Seln was firmly against the idea. Monolith knitted her stony brows and frowned, pointing her hand at the stone.  
Seln’s soul lit up with power and a bolt of lightning split from the sky; it absorbed into one of the spines on her back. She felt tremendous energy rush down her arm and the bolt shot from her palm, blindingly bright. It missed the stone and carved a great scorch in the earth next to it, thunderclap resounding in her ears.  
“A warning would have been nice!” Mono yelled from the Shrine’s steps, hands clapped over her ears. The infant on her back started wailing, and she quickly moved to reassure him.  
“Yeah, a warning would’ve been nice,” Monolith repeated, glaring at her chest. Seln’s soul cowered a little.  
“Yes, it is impressive,” she sighed, unable to continue her anger against the overexcitable goddess. “You may keep the spines. They may prove useful. But is there some way you can lessen the brightness and noise? My vision has gone white and my ears are ringing.”  
Seln seemed agreeably, so Monolith felt satisfied. Agro was the only creature who hadn’t been shaken by the blast; she had pinned her ears back unhappily, neck stiff, but had not bolted.  
“Where is the next colossus?” Mono asked, rocking the still-wailing infant. The baby was flailing its chubby arms, eyes squeezed tightly shut.  
“The place we have been before, where I got the bars of iron,” Monolith replied. “The great amphitheater, sunken into the ground and broken in many places. A colossus lies still in the bottom of it, awaiting my call.”  
“Do you feel well enough to fight it?” Mono asked. “Or would you rather take more time to practice your newfound power?”  
“I think I am ready,” Monolith declared. “With each victory, I become stronger. Soon, I will down these colossi like a bear downs an elk.”  
“Let us go, then,” the woman said, standing. “And please remember to watch your spines.”  
“Maybe you should sit in front, my lady,” Monolith suggested. “It would be more comfortable.”  
Mono put her hands on her hips. “I’m not the one who knows where we’re going. But your words are true, so I guess I cannot object. It would be more comfortable.”  
“I will just tell you when to turn,” Monolith promised, walking over to Agro. “It is no big deal.”  
And it wasn’t; the path through the cliffs was wide and meandering, and Monolith’s words were well-timed and clear. Agro herself seemed to have knowledge of the path; she pulled left and right even before the god had spoken. They came across the sunken amphitheater, surrounded by the still pond, and the horse slowed on her own, knowing this was their destination.  
Monolith slid off her back, eyes fixed on the ruins. “The beast inside is smaller than its gigantic kin,” she said, “but its magic is just as powerful. I will not be complicit just because this colossus does not tower over me.”  
“Wise words,” Mono agreed, walking to the water’s edge and taking a seat. “Though I hope your extra caution is not necessary.”  
Monolith dipped her head in appreciation, and stepped into the water. It felt not quite so cold as before, and she slid through the surface smooth as an otter. Emerging on the other side of the moat, she paused to shake, feeling droplets fly free of her fur. Enough of it had grown back that it now held water, thick with the sheen. From the top of her head to the tip of her broad tail, she had a pelt of lustrous brown; the fur grew thick now on her shins and forearms as well. While she still missed pieces of herself, she was no longer a mangy, ugly beast.  
She picked her way through the ruins, following the path she had walked before to reach the great amphitheater. Many of the arched windows were missing their bars, a testament to her pillaging. But it was a ruin, so she felt no guilt at having broken away those pieces.  
The slumped mound of earth was at the bottom of the great pit, many pieces of black stone sticking this way and that out of it. She reached the lump and placed a hand to its surface, feeling the souls swirling inside of it. More than before, they seemed angry, so much so that the beast, even when dead, stank of acrid rage. The magic surrounding it, though inactive, had been cast by hands that shook with anger.  
 _Let that anger flow through you one, last time._  
The mound shook, and suddenly curled upon itself, like an armadillo. Monolith realized with shock that the colossus had been lying on its back; with the agility of a cat, it flipped itself to its feet and she found herself face-to-face with the raging eyes of a massive, stone salamander.  
It’s mouth was a yawning square of darkness. Something lit up from within, and she had only a heartbeat to throw herself out of the way before the spat projectile, a ball of yellow-green, exploded in the air behind her.  
Acrid gas filled the air, burning in her nose and lungs with the most terrible of scents. She gasped and choked, stumbling out of the noxious cloud. The colossus was lining up another shot, and she ran for the exit, dodging the blast with her heart hammering in her chest.  
She dashed up the stairs, emerging on the first level of the amphitheater. The colossus was below, head pointed towards the alcove she had escaped through. It shrieked angrily, heavily-armored tail beating against the ground. It’s entire body was covered in heavy, stone plates, black as volcanic rock.  
 _It died on its back. That must be where its weak points are._  
But how to flip over such a well-defended beast? Or rather, how did a human flip the beast over?  
She glanced up the length of the amphitheater walls, broken stone towering high. The colossus had been built in the image of a salamander, and salamanders were excellent climbers.  
 _Get the beast to climb the wall, and push it off somehow._  
She ran to the stairs and upwards, making her way towards the top of the arena. She stopped and moved to one of the windows, peering down at the beast, which still hadn’t moved from its position.  
“Up here, you blundering sack of rocks!” she yelled. The colossus’ head turned, and its eyes glowed angry orange.  
She fled from the window, running around to the opposite side of the amphitheater, where a great chunk of the structure had been knocked away. With thunderous steps, the colossus began to climb the wall towards her last position; she ducked behind the windowframe so it wouldn’t notice her.  
When the beast reached the far window, it shrieked and spat another ball of gas, flooding the hallway. It remained in position, head swaying from side to side as it tried to figure out where its small foe had gone.  
Monolith drew her bow from her back. _Its legs glow with magic like the hooves of the second beast. I have no better guesses about where to hit it than that._  
Seln’s soul gave a little jump. Monolith frowned, looking down at her bow.  
 _Oh, screw it._ She threw the ramshackle weapon down and held out her hand. Narrowing her eyes, she called to the sky high above, and lightning split the air. It struck her spines and she felt the energy radiate down her arm; it burst from her palm and shot across the amphitheater to strike the colossus’ right foreleg. As promised, Seln had turned down the brightness and sound, but only a little.  
The colossus shrieked as it was struck, foot losing its grip. Monolith thrust her other hand forwards and channelled the rest of the lightning’s energy, sending out a second bolt. It struck the beast’s other foreleg and it lost its grip; with a shriek, it fell from the wall and crashed to the ground, stunned.  
Wasting no time, Monolith leapt from her perch, sword drawn. She hit the ground and bounded away, making for the struggling colossus. With a leap, she cleared its head and landed between its forelegs, ducking to avoid its swinging claws. Magic pulsed beneath her feet; she was right above a weak point.  
 _Let’s get this done, then!_ She drove her sword into the beast’s chest, feeling magic shattering as the colossus shrieked, thrashing. A second stab and it was done, leaving another weak point between its rear legs.  
Seln’s soul was bouncing around again. “What is it?” Monolith angry questioned, moving to the second weak point. Seln gestured for her to stab, and as she did, lightning broke from the sky. It struck her spines, raced down her arm, and lit up the blade of her sword as she drove it through the beast’s skin. The magic shattered absolutely beneath the blow, fragmenting into pieces that no soul, no power, no matter how strong, could put back together. The colossus shrieked; instead of falling to the ground, muscles going stiff like the others Monolith had slain, it went limp, and pieces began to fall from it. Stone plates slid from their positions, leathery skin cracking to reveal darkness, and from within, the souls spilled forth, not just through the fatal wound, but through all the cracks and crevices they could find, as the colossus fell to pieces.  
Monolith stumbled off the slain beast in shock. “Seln! What did you…”  
Seln seemed apologetic. It had just been a crazy idea…  
“No, no, it’s fine,” Monolith tried to reassure her. “It’s just...you didn’t just kill it. You destroyed it. The magic is shattered irreversibly, it’s gone.” She blinked and shook her head. “I haven’t a use for a bunch of dead colossi, so you’re right in saying there’s no point in saving them...but they are such marvels of magical engineering. I mean, you weren’t around to experience the fight with the flying one…” Despite everything, she still felt distressed.  
She picked her soul out of the crowd and beckoned it over. It came happily, but brought no others with it; none of the other souls seemed interested in the earthbound god. They spiraled away into the sky, winking out of existence. Unlike the other colossi, this one did not produce a beam of light in its passing; the sky above was dark.  
The detail had not been missed by Mono either; upon Monolith’s return, she stood up hastily, concern on her face. “The beam of light that marks this place is no more,” she said. “What happened?”  
“Seln destroyed the magic holding the colossus together,” Monolith explained, unable to keep some of the still-remaining shock out of her voice. “She shattered it with her lightning. The beast has fallen to pieces.”  
“Such a great destruction of magic will surely not go unnoticed,” the woman cautioned. “People, members of my tribe, are aware of the magic of this world. They will feel the quake you have produced.”  
“And if they were truly sensitive, they would have felt the awakening and re-killing of the other colossi too,” Monolith replied. “They cannot do anything of it, trapped beyond the cliffs. The bridge is broken; nothing can enter or leave.”  
“I just…” Mono bit her lip, looking truly worried. “You may underestimate the power humans still hold. Even with magic weakened by the demise of most of the gods, you and I both know much still remains.”  
“It strengthens with every colossus I slay,” Monolith agreed. “But I would not worry of it. Your people are far from these borders. You think they would try to stop me?”  
“Perhaps,” the woman replied, sounding unsure. “Dormin was the last god they knew. They may just as well assume you are his companion.”  
“The mere thought is despicable,” Monolith growled. “I am no companion of Dormin, I am his sworn enemy. I will prove so to them if they ask.”  
“I am in no place to stop you,” Mono said, “and your determination is respectable.”  
“You must know the way to the homes and havens of the leaders of men,” Monolith questioned. “After I have regained the heart of my soul, I should make to meet them. To tell them the gods have returned.”  
Mono looked even more nervous at the suggestion. “As...as you wish. Though I am not sure you would be warmly-received...your visage becomes more and more terrible with every colossus you kill.”  
“What of it?” Monolith asked, offended. “I am no longer a mange-ridden, emaciated creature; yes, I still have some of my fur to grow back, but I would hardly call myself terrible.”  
“You’re scary,” the woman clarified flatly. “You are like a monstrous bear of stone and steel, towering overhead. Your approach to any town will be heralded as if you were the most hellish of monsters.”  
“I will have to exercise caution, but it will be of no difficult matter,” Monolith dismissed her concerns. “I am an ally to mankind, not an enemy. I will make such clear.”  
“I can send you the way of a leader of men,” Mono said, “but you must listen to my advice and follow it. He is not to be taken lightly.”  
Monolith bowed her head. “I will listen to your words, my lady. I promise this to you.”  
Mono’s eyes were critical. “I will hold you to that, god. More than you think may depend on it.”  
~


	12. Earthshakers Pt. 1

Earthshakers

“Why don’t you just climb them?” Mono asked, “and awaken them once you are already on top? Wouldn’t that make the fight much easier?”  
They were standing in front of the great bulk of the next colossus, a featureless mound of dirt with flowers growing from its back. Mono was astride Agro; Monolith stood next to them, sword held loose in her hand. She frowned at the woman’s words, knowing her reply, no matter how good, would be scrutinized.  
“I have no idea where is where on these lifeless mounds,” she replied. “It could be on its back, for all I know. The last one was; had I called it to life while standing on the mound, it would have flipped over and crushed me. Or it could be on its side, and when it stands, it could easily shake me off. The beasts have little to grab onto on their sides. It is not safe to assume they have died on their bellies.”  
“But being such large creatures, with behaviors and movements like real animals, many of them probably have,” the woman argued, as predicted. “Such heavy beasts are inclined to take the shortest path to the ground.”  
Nearby, the ground shook as a geyster erupted. Mono jumped a little, as she had with every eruption that had happened before. The infant on her back babbled, pointing at the geyster’s tall plume.  
“A human did this from the ground, without the assistance of godly powers,” Monolith continued. “And so I shall do it from the ground too, for it has been proven possible.”  
“I wish you luck, then,” Mono said, wheeling Agro around. “I would enjoy further strategic talk, but these geysters are making me nervous…”  
“Go beyond the land bridge,” Monolith ordered. “The ground is stable there, and you may still be able to see. But stay out of the beast’s sight! I would not like to have to chase it across the plains if it sets its eyes on you.”  
“Agro will protect me,” the woman said, patting the mare’s neck. “She has dealt with these monsters before.”  
Monolith knelt as the woman trotted away, seeking safer ground. This particular mound of dirt was certainly impressive, and almost dome-shaped. She suspected its gently-sloping sides prompted the woman to question her methods. Yes, this mound would be easy to climb. But did she want to climb it, not knowing where she would be when the beast awoke? Not exactly.  
The ground shook as another geyster erupted. This one was so close, the warm mist drifted across the mound, moistening the earth. Monolith turned her head from the source, trying to keep the drops from her eyes. The geysers would certainly make this interesting, but she was more worried than curious. One wrong step, and she could be blasted into the air by a plume of scalding water.  
She called forth the souls within the earthen corpse, feeling the ground tremor again as the beast awoke. Legs burst from the mound, rounded feet planting themselves into the ground with shattering force. The beast heaved itself upwards, throwing its head back. With a spark of annoyance, Monolith realized the thing had indeed died on its belly.  
 _I won’t hear the end of this from Mono._  
Maybe she could save some face. With a scrap of an idea, she dashed for the rising beast, whiskers streaming in the wind.  
It looked like a turtle, back covered in rows upon rows of ridged stone plates. A great ring of stone ran around its face, two strangely-small eyes above it. That was her target.  
She gathered her legs beneath her and leapt, rocketing into the air with hands outstretched. Her fingers locked around the lip of stone, claws digging into its surface. Her feet swung free; she was hanging from the beast’s chin. It was staring at her with enraged orange eyes.  
The colossus lifted its head, and she heard a great crackle of gathering energy. Something slammed into her shins, agony shooting through her bones. She was thrown from the beast, tumbling head over heels until she landed in the dirt with a howl of pain. Her shins were throbbing, fur and skin burned away in a great stripe from whatever magic had struck her. The bones beneath the wounds felt cracked.  
The colossus took a step towards her and lifted its head again. Energy crackled on three points beneath its chin, gathering into spheres. In desperation, she thrust her hand out, lightning arcing from the sky. The bolts struck the colossus on the side of its head, knocking its shot wide. The yellow spheres plowed harmlessly into the dirt, sending up plumes of earth.  
Monolith shot more lightning at the beast, keeping it distracted. But she couldn’t walk, not on broken legs. She needed to heal herself, and she couldn’t do that while throwing lightning.  
“Mono!” she howled, eyes rolling in her head. “I need you to distract it!”  
By some miracle, the woman heard her. Or maybe it was Agro who had heard; either way, the mare jumped into action with surprising suddenness, ears pinned back against her head. She charged across the land bridge with fury, poor Mono bouncing unsteadily on her back. The colossus had been in the slow process of turning back to face the downed god; upon spotting the black horse racing towards it, its eyes lit up angrily.  
Agro galloped by, and the colossus took the bait. “Just keep running!” Monolith yelled after them, and turned her hands to her injured legs. Calling upon the healer’s soul, she placed her palms to the wound and channeled her energy, urging the bones to knit. The process seemed painfully slow; energy popped on the air as the colossus gathered for another shot. She whipped her head around just in time to see the shot go wide as Agro outpaced it, running like the wind.  
 _Oh, come on..._ the fracture finally sealed itself, and she moved to her other leg, leaving the burn wounds alone. Those were superficial, and could close on their own. She wasn’t going to waste her precious energy on them.  
Agro screamed from somewhere, and then the mare went galloping by, dirt flying from her hooves. Monolith ducked as magic shot past her, a miss narrower than she liked. She glared angrily at Mono, who was supposed to be steering the horse. The woman was instead clinging on for dear life, and the horse was doing her own thing.  
“Mono!” she thundered, face blazing with anger. “Get off the field!”  
The woman didn’t seem to hear her. Agro was running another circle around the colossus, which was turning slowly to follow her, like some kind of terrifying clock.  
Her bone knitted, and she sprang to her feet, ignoring the hot blood that had thoroughly coated the fur on her shins. With fury, she ran to intercept the horse, causing her to skid to a stop as she ran across her path. She pointed towards the land bridge, eyes blazing.  
“Off!” she ordered over the sound of another geyster. Mono’s eyes were glazed over, but the shock shook her enough to nod hastily and turn Agro around. The colossus, facing them, lifting its head; Monolith turned and hurled a ball of lightning at it, knocking its head away. Agro made fast for the land bridge, and she didn’t give them a second look as she ran for the towering beast.  
Its magic was deadly, but it could only shoot what was in front of it. As soon as Monolith passed beneath it, she was safe from its shots. The beast let out an angry rumble as she did, knowing the same. It took slow steps to try and get her back in its sights, but as long as she kept moving, she was safe.  
 _How would a human do this?_ The beast’s underbelly was thick with fur, but too far above her head to reach.  
Seln had a suggestion; Monolith couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “No, humans cannot climb like spiders. That’s definitely not how this beast was defeated.”  
Seln sounded disappointed; apparently she hadn’t been around a lot of humans in her lifetime.  
“What do you mean you know of a man who can climb walls?” Monolith muttered. “That’s ridiculous. This is really not the time, Seln.”  
She had spotted something with the colossus’ feet. The same green glow, like the one that had been on the hooves of her second foe, and the legs of the one she had just recently destroyed.  
Each time it took a step, the light was visible for a heartbeat. Too short of a time for a normal strike to land.  
 _But a lightning strike…_  
She called the energy from the sky, the bolts striking her spines and making them glow orange. Instead of channeling the energy, she gathered it, feeling it writhe inside her chest, desperate to be released. Seln’s soul guided her, keeping the energy concentrated, and as the colossus took another step, she released it, bolt flying beneath the stone lip to strike the glowing skin. The beast cried out in pain, stumbling. Another foot moved, trying to regain balance, and she pointed to it with conviction, energy flying from her clawed fingertip. It struck the green light, and the beast cried again as both forelegs went out, legs bowing outwards.  
The belly of the beast dipped alarmingly towards her head. She felt compelled to duck, even though it probably wasn’t necessary.  
 _Now what?_ She could try to jump for the belly, but she couldn’t see where to go from there. With forelegs buckled, the colossus’ head was close to the ground…  
The beast could only shoot forwards, so she leapt for the side of its head instead. Her hands grasped the stone lip, and she pulled herself upwards. Her foe was still downed, wheezing, but not for long; the small figure running around in front of its eyes seemed to spark the fight back into it.  
 _Whoa!_ She stumbled as the colossus tossed its head, a slow but powerful move. Now that she had contact with it, she could feel but one true weak point, and it was right above, on the top of the beast’s skull. Once steadied, she leapt for the higher ground. Moving with agility, she drew her sword and latched onto the fur above the weak point with her other hand. Now that her strength was partially restored, she wielded the great weapon with ease, like it weighed nothing.  
She stabbed the weak point, grinding through the colossus’ skin, which seemed especially thick. It took a hefty yank to get her sword free, and by that point the beast was bucking as wild as it could, making it impossible to get another stab in. She hung on, waiting for the beast to calm. Meanwhile, Seln’s soul was begging to get another lightning bolt in.  
 _I do not know about this, Seln…Yes, I know they are my enemies, but at the same time they are very powerful magical objects, and it feels…wrong to just destroy them like this. This kind of magic is gone from this world._  
Seln seemed disappointed, but only slightly. She was sharing Monolith’s body, after all; she had no right to be demanding.  
Monolith stabbed the colossus again, somewhat surprised by how well the beast was still holding up.  
 _The stone armor plating that made up the shell on its back must extend beneath its skin,_ she mused. It sure felt like she was stabbing through stone.  
Another stab, and the thing still wasn’t dead. She was beginning to feel a little frustrated; was she just not strong enough?  
 _Don’t be silly._ She wasn’t sure if she thought it or if Seln did, but she decided to take the advice either way.  
She plunged her sword through the colossus’ skull for the fourth and final time, a grin of satisfaction and relief spreading across her face as she felt its muscles begin to lock up. The beast stumbled, groaning, and its legs caved. Just as before, it plopped down on its belly, chin slamming into the ground with enough force to knock her over. She tumbled, bounced off its skull, and landed on the lip of stone, right in front of one of its now-empty eyes.  
 _Good gods…_ she was sore after that one. The burns on her shins were still oozing blood, the skin mostly gone. The adrenaline of the fight had been dulling the pain, and now that it was over, they were really starting to hurt.  
“Ow…” she muttered, face wrinkling in a grimace. She took a few steps from the corpse of the colossus before sinking to the ground, putting her hands over the wounds.  
The piece of her soul, liberated from the colossus, came drifting over. Two other fragments were tailing it; one was gold, and the other was pink, and very, very small.  
She smiled tiredly. “I think that piece belongs to you, Seln.” It was a small piece, but a piece nevertheless, and if it contained part of Seln’s more important memories…  
It didn’t. Darn.  
But then she held out her hand to the gold ribbon, and her mind was filled with horror. Gods, droves of gods, gathered in front of the Shrine, looking to the sky; the clouds were on fire. Dormin had attacked the Higher Lands with his band of treacherous followers. The legions of warrior-gods had all gathered in the Shrine to meet with the leaders of men, and the shadowy being had taken that moment to strike their unguarded home. It was unexpected, unprecedented; there was nothing to gain by attacking the Higher Lands. It was to make a statement; this was war.  
The gods turned to the leaders of men and accused them of being part of Dormin’s plan, distracting them from their home. They would have descended into madness, but then one, young lord stepped forwards, pleading their innocence. He swore allegiance to the gods, for Dormin’s crimes could not go unpunished, and they had no role in his terror. He convinced the gods of the humans’ innocence, and all tribes of men gathered behind him. They would prove their honor by fighting alongside the gods in a battle beyond their means.  
Monolith’s clouded eyes widened with shock. So the humans had fought alongside the gods, with all their might. And all the gods had died, so it must have been…  
A human must have saved her.  
A human must have struck Dormin as he meant to strike her, and struck him down. And then the humans must have imprisoned him, creating the colossi and sealing off this broken land. If no creature ever returned to this place, then Dormin would be a prisoner, forever.  
The knowledge weighed heavily upon her. Strangely heavy, almost as if it was a physical object upon her back. She turned her head; it wasn’t the knowledge on her back she felt, but rather many plates of scalloped stone, overlaid upon each other. They covered her shoulders down to the base of her tail, but there were two bare slashes through them, where her wings should have been anchored.  
 _So long, and still grounded. Grounded and blind._  
She stood, the last of the burns and blood cleaned from her shins. Mono was hurrying towards her on Agro, and the shock must’ve been written all over her face because the woman was moving unexpectedly fast.  
“How are you?” was the first thing out of her mouth, in a jumble of hurried words. Monolith exhaled, whiskers drooping. “Wrought with shock, my lady. I have learned a greater piece of this puzzle.”  
“What is it?” the woman pressed. “The terror that Seln observed? The machine?”  
Monolith shook her head. “No, it is a memory from after that time. A memory from my friend, my dear friend.”  
“Of what?” Mono persisted.  
“Of Dormin laying waste to the Higher Lands while the gods convened with leaders of men in the great Shrine,” she told her. “A pointless destruction of both our home and his. A statement of fury. A declaration of war. Our home was no longer precious to him. He was not one of us.”  
Mono’s eyes were wide. “That is terrible! How could one be so cruel as to destroy their own home?”  
“So cruel and full of hate,” Monolith agreed as they began to walk from the battleground, the woman on the horse next to the growing god. “We stood in the way of the crime that became his purpose, so he discarded everything we meant to him.”  
“Did Dormin have friends amongst the gods, or was he always an outsider?” the woman asked. “Perhaps he found it easy to disengage from his people if he was.”  
“Dormin was no outcast,” Monolith reassured her. “He was brazen and bold, a talker of the town. At the same time, he was intelligent and cunning, which attracted people to him. Attracted those who would become his fell followers.”  
Mono shivered. “What a demon. I hope he is truly dead, and not festering in some dark hole, plotting for a return to power. With all trace of him gone from human visibility, we cannot know.”  
“There is no trace of him, no sign,” Monolith agreed solemnly. “And I cannot sense his dark magic. Until I have regained the heart of my soul, my great sensitivity to the world is lost. He could be out there, hiding.”  
“If only we had someone who could remember what happened to him, in the end,” Mono lamented.  
“I think we do,” Monolith replied, with a meaningful look at the child on Mono’s back.  
Mono frowned. “The infant? He is just a baby, found abandoned in the Shrine. Sure, his origins are quite mystical, but he would not have memories of use.”  
“As it would appear, but he is marked,” Monolith said, pointing to the horns. “Humans do not just sprout horns on their own. Something must happen to them to cause such a thing.”  
“What are you implying?” the woman asked. She sounded a little defensive.  
“Bodies are just vessels for souls,” Monolith said, choosing her next words carefully so as to not upset the woman. “And souls contain memories. This child was not brought into the world in the normal way. It is possible he is a…remnant. Hopefully of the person who brought you here.”  
“Hopefully?” Mono asked, narrowing her eyes.  
“He could contain Dormin’s soul,” Monolith told her, probably a little too bluntly. The woman recoiled as if burned, and gave the infant on her back a horrified glance.  
“Not saying that he does!” Monolith said hurriedly, holding out her hands placatingly. “And if he does…well, I’ll be able to tell eventually, and I can excise the soul from him, so there’s no need for hasty action. He cannot do anything in infant form.”  
“If this child turns out to be Dormin, I will curse myself a thousand times for being such a gentle soul as to care for a misshapen, hideous being,” Mono spat. “I nursed this child! I-“  
“It is ok, my lady!” Monolith exclaimed. “You were right to spare this child’s life, Dormin or not. And Agro is comfortable with it, if that is of reassurance to you. I am sure this mare has seen enough of Dormin to know his soul where it hides.”  
Mono still looked suspicious but seemed to calm. She urged Agro onwards and they broke into a canter, the god easily able to keep up.  
“Do you find yourself ready for the next battle?” the woman yelled.  
“As in now?” Monolith replied. “I could use a short break, but I wouldn’t mind taking that rest at our next site, if you’d prefer not to return to the Shrine.”  
“I would prefer,” Mono told her. “If this baby on my back is a demon, I’d like to know as soon as possible!”  
“As you wish,” Monolith called. “I’ll lead you to our next arena.”  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


	13. Earthshakers Pt. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Second favorite colossus right here. Also the only fight where I legit screamed at the TV a few times.

Earthshakers Pt. 2

Their next arena was partially underground, in a cave with a ceiling worn and punctured. Sunlight streamed downwards here and there, making circles upon the undulating mounds of sand. Spires of stone rose here and there, some narrow and some wide, like toothy crags. Monolith found the largest sunny spot she could and curled up in the dune for a quick nap.  
The darkness of sleep washed over her almost instantly. She welcomed it readily, nourishing her strength.  
She dreamed of two massive eyes, burning into her heart.  
She jumped awake with a bit of a gasp, expecting the colossus to be looming above her in place of those monstrous eyes, but nothing was there. She was staring up into the glowing sky through one of the holes in the ceiling.  
Mono looked up from where she was sitting, weaving a handful of plant fibers in her hands. “Are you well, Monolith?”  
“I had a bit of a nightmare, it would seem,” the creature replied, shaking her head to rid it of those eyes. “Scared me awake.”  
“Of the colossus?” the woman asked. She gestured in the direction of the sandy mound, piled against the far wall. Such a lump could only be the corpse of the beast.  
“No, just of eyes,” Monolith replied. “Massive, glowing eyes of some unseen monster. They could have belonged to a colossus, yes, but many beings of magic share the same eyes, as do the gods.” She tapped a claw to the corner of one of her own, orbs still choked by greyish film. “They could have been my own eyes, for all I know.”  
“I never considered that gods could dream, let alone sleep,” Mono mused. “I guess our ancient texts and modern worship is enough to drain what is mortal and earthly from them…”  
“I am mortal,” Monolith reminded her. “Without the heart of my soul, something as simple as an arrow through my eye or a knife to the heart could kill me. And like other mortal beings, I must eat and sleep.”  
“Texts I read as a child described great feasts of the gods,” the woman continued. “But they also described individuals who meditated alone, on high mountain peaks, for years without sustenance. You gods enjoyed your great wealth of food, but it was not wholly necessary.”  
“And that is why we were noble to share it,” Monolith said, tail twitching against the sand. “Through this land, we brought our holy food to the earth. Our relationship with the humans was mutual. They worshipped us, and we provided them with bounty. But you sound...unhappy with it.”  
“There is hunger in this world,” Mono whispered. “I hate seeing it. Good people, unable to provide for their families due to reasons beyond their fault. Ancient texts speak little of how the gods aided us, only how we worshipped them.”  
“Your ancient texts may not be old enough to record the times before the terrible war Dormin caused,” Monolith reasoned. “I assure you, we shared our plenty with the humans when we could. And we may again, if the Higher Lands are not in shambles. If enough life exists up there, we can begin farming again.”  
She had stood, stretching her great limbs and yawning wide, revealing teeth that were no longer yellow and crooked. Her grey eyes were set upon the sand-bound colossus with purpose.  
Mono gathered her weaving and set it on Agro’s saddle, leading the mare to the edge of the sand, where a tunnel connected to the room. The infant on her back was pointing at the sand mound with a wide-eyed look.  
Monolith knelt next to the mound, the infant’s gaze unknown to her. She dusted a bit of sand from the surface, finding stone and limp, brown fur.   
It is like it rammed the wall and died. The corpse was half-buried beneath the sand, suggesting the beast was capable of tunneling. The sandpit that was its home was surrounded on all sides by unyielding stone, no better barrier existing.  
The human must have found a way to trick the beast into the wall, the impact stunning it. Hitting a stone wall head-on hurt, but she doubted the impact alone could break the magic that controlled the colossus. With the beast disabled for the moment, she could seek out its weak spots. Hopefully they weren’t buried beneath the sand.  
 _Hmmm..._ perhaps Agro had been fast enough to dodge the beast at the last moment, leaving it no choice but to plow into the wall? To stun itself, it would have to be moving quite fast, faster than most creatures could dodge.  
She would have to figure things out on the fly. Once she knew what the monster was capable of, she could defeat it.  
Kneeling in the warm sand, she rested her hand on the lifeless hide and called upon the souls within. They were drawn forth, their energies bound to the magic, with angered swiftness. The beast writhed, and the sand beneath her feet shifted. She was thrown backwards, landing with a poof of sand. She recovered just in time to see the tailtip of the colossus vanish into the sand next to the wall.  
 _So it can tunnel, and very quickly._ But it could not see beneath the sand, at least in normal terms. She felt the earth rumbling below her feet as the monster passed under. She dared not to move, in case it could sense the vibrations of her footfalls. Best to let it surface randomly, and not draw it towards herself.  
The shaking faded as the monster tunneled away. Monolith became aware of the earth-churning noise that accompanied the beast; her stone ears flared wide as she turned her head slowly, gauging the distance of the noise. Though her sight had yet to return in full, her hearing was mostly intact. Judging by the rumbling, the colossus did not tunnel far beneath the sand, but close to the surface like a marauding alligator.  
The dunes cracked open as the beast broke the surface, sand flying through sunbeams. It did not breach like a whale, revealing very little of itself to the eye. Stone ridges, fins like a shark, and brown fur slicked with sand. It broke the surface again, and Monolith found herself caught in the gaze of two enormous orange eyes, burning with hate.  
 _Well, it knows where I am now!_ The beast was coming right for her, ground shaking. She ran for the wall behind her, hoping the colossus would follow. It did, but as she reached the wall, glancing over her shoulder, she saw it dip and turn away, body corkscrewing. Crossly, she stepped away from the wall, ears pricked up again.  
 _So it’s not that dumb._ Those terrible eyes had followed her to the wall, seen the wall, and turned away. She should’ve expected it, but she was disappointed all the same.  
The beast would not knowingly drive itself into the wall. It made the bits around the edges a fragile safe haven, which was nice, but she didn’t really have a good Plan B made up.  
In her musing, the beast had made it to the wall and was now barreling towards her, the stone face on its left. She broke into a run, quickly realizing the beast was faster than her. It turned from the wall to follow as she made a desperate break for the nearest stone spine. Upon reaching that point, she leapt and clawed up its face, arms and legs wrapped around the stone like a cat on a tree (or rather, a bear on a tree). Her claws broke through the stone, securing her hold. Once again, the colossus had turned away. It was circling the spire like a shark.  
 _Uh..._ she wracked her brain for a good idea, one without a high probability of death. Her brainstorming was cut short as the colossus leapt from the sand.  
It soared towards her, horrible mandibled mouth open wide as if to swallow her, revealing a glowing green gullet. She yelped in the most ungodly manner and let go of the spire, dropping below the aim of the beast. It crashed into the stone above her, jaws scissoring shut. With a roar, the beast thrashed and broke off the top of the spire, falling sideways while its jaws pulverized the stone. Monolith threw her hands above her head and ran, dodging chunks of falling rock.  
The colossus was burrowing again, leaving the sand littered with broken bits of stone. It was angling itself towards her yet again.  
 _It must be able to feel the vibrations of my footsteps, or perhaps it can sense temperature._ Either way, the beast could follow her impeccably, even without being able to see her. It made the beast’s huge eyes seem pointless.  
 _Without being able to see me…_  
Stone walls didn’t throw off vibrations or heat. The beast had to have eyes for a reason.  
She ran around behind another spire, listening carefully as the colossus turned to avoid the sunken object. When it chased her, it frequently broke the surface, eyes open. It wasn’t watching her; it was watching her position relative to the walls and spires.  
The beast had moved off, circling around for a better angle on its prey, crouched at the base of a spire. Monolith wasted no time, sprinting for the opposing wall as fast as possible.   
It was chasing her; she could hear it and feel it. Looking over her shoulder, she spotted the colossus swiftly cutting through the sand. One eye broke the surface, blinking.  
 _Help me here, Seln!_ She called the lightning from above, catching it as it arched through the holes in the ceiling. Throwing her arm back, she shot the bolts from her fingertips, striking in a barrage around the colossus’ head. She heard the beast shriek and its head dipped beneath the sand. She threw herself to the left as the colossus started to corkscrew, making a move as if to dive, but it was too close to the wall. With a resounding shudder, it slammed into the stone, brown-furred back arched into the air.  
She spun on a heel, kicking up sand into the air. Drawing her sword as she went, she bounded onto the beast’s back, feeling the magic light up beneath her. It had two weak zones on its back that were thankfully both above the sand. One was nearer to her, the other nearer to its head.  
The beast was writhing in the sand like a loop of ribbon in the wind, swaying and twisting as much as it could. She dropped to her knees so she could grab with her hands and feet, knowing balance would be impossible on this unstable ground. Crawling to the nearest weak point, she drove her sword through it, feeling magic snapping like twine. She twisted her blade within the beast’s hide and felt the magic shear away into nothingness. The colossus was screeching, a sound piercing to the ears. Anger radiated from it, a scent like brimstone.  
The beast jerked, and she was thrown from it, bouncing across the sand. Her sword left her fingers, but she called to it and the hilt was in her hand before she was back on her feet. Just in time, she saw the tail of the colossus vanish through the sand.  
The ground was shaking. Sand flew into the air as the monster broke the surface, dashing along the wall towards its prey. Monolith ran for the flat-topped pillar, running as fast as she could. It still wasn’t fast enough; glancing over her shoulder, she knew she wasn’t going to make it. She called another bolt of lightning from the sky, concentrated it into a ball, and threw it from her hand. It struck the ground in front of the beast, exploding into a thousand fragments of electricity. The sand turned to glass before her eyes, and the colossus swerved away in shock. The deterrent lasted just long enough for her to crest the flat-topped pillar; as she watched, the beast moved past the stone and dove deeper into the sand.  
She couldn’t feel the shaking in the ground as well, being on top of the stone. Her ears strained to keep track of her foe’s position beneath the sand. It worked well enough; the beast surfaced and she was ready for it, diving from the rock as it leapt at her with a roar. As it reentered the sand, she was running for the far wall, getting herself in position to strike at its eyes again.  
It gave chase, ripping through the dunes behind her. As it bobbed in and out of the sand, she noticed that one of its eyes had gone dark. Its edges were ragged, like shattered glass.  
“You broke its eye, Seln!” she yelled, shocked. Seln protested crossly; it had been Monolith throwing and controlling the lightning, not her. She wasn’t to blame!  
Either way, there wasn’t another way about this. They were still quite far from the wall, but she had hope in her heart as she threw another bolt at it.  
The lightning splattered against the beast’s forehead, no more harm done than a fly could do. The blank eye socket was just another part of the beast now, and the sparks that bounced across it felt like nothing. There wasn’t any more time; there was nothing else she could do.   
She threw herself to the side, getting as much of herself out of the way as possible as the colossus barrelled into her. Stone crashed against her legs; she felt something pulling her back even as she was thrown forwards. She bounced across the sand, curling in a rough ball so the armor covering her back protected her. She rolled to a stop, world spinning around her.  
The colossus’ stone mandibles were gnashing as if it meant to eat her, had she not been thrown from its path. The beast was ducking again, diving below the sand to turn.  
She tried to rise and felt her right leg buckle, the bones of her shin cracked in multiple places. There was no time to flinch or freeze in her pain; she ground her teeth together hard to enough to make her gums bleed, dropped to all fours, and ran for the nearest tunnel, where Mono and Agro were. She held her injured leg off the ground, distracting herself with the pain in her gums. If she didn’t move fast enough, the colossus would catch her.  
She made it to the safety of the tunnel, collapsing next to Agro, who skittered sideways nervously. Mono gasped and ran to her side as she sat up, wrapping her hands around her shin.  
“It hit you!” the woman said, stating the obvious. Monolith almost rolled her eyes.  
“It’s faster than me,” she growled, working up the green healing energy in her hands. “I only have a very short time to try and blind it before it catches up to me. And I happened to miss.”  
“Is that how you got it to run into the wall the first time?” Mono asked. “You blinded it with lightning?”  
“I struck its eye,” Monolith replied. “I shattered it. It only has one eye now, so I have even less of a target.” She paused to spit blood from her mouth, making the woman look all the more worried.  
“I saw it jump and break that pillar,” the woman said with wide eyes. “This beast moves fast as a horse!”  
Monolith frowned. Agro was watching the sand churn with attentive eyes.  
“Maybe not,” she said. “I have a feeling Agro was integral in the human’s defeat of the beast. And I might need her help.”  
She stood, her leg healed, and rested her hand on the mare’s neck. “I don’t want to risk her unnecessarily, but she may know more about defeating this beast than I do.” She patted the stone armor that covered her hip. “I got lucky with that strike, that it only broke one leg. My armor absorbed most of the force, otherwise that could’ve been a lot worse. If there’s a better way to do this, I’m going to try it.”  
“Are you sure we need to risk her?” Mono asked protectively. “You have the strength and resilience of a god; she is just a horse!”  
“She’s a horse who’s done this before,” Monolith argued. “But you have more ownership over her than I do, so if you do not want me to take her out there, I won’t.”   
Mono looked torn between her care for her horse and the necessity ahead of her. She looked at Agro; the mare gazed back at her and snorted, fluffing her hair.   
“I…” she trailed off. “I wish I could ask her myself what she wants to do. But if you believe you must take her to kill this beast…”  
“If you would allow me, my lady,” Monolith said, dipping her head. After a pause, Mono nodded tersely.  
Monolith rested her hand on Agro’s neck. The mare snorted at her, and turned her head to gaze at the sandy pit with bright eyes.  
She swung herself into the saddle, internally apologizing to the horse about her weight. She was a big horse, strong and well-bred, but certainly no human she carried weighed as much as the god did. Especially with her stone armor and sword, she carried great bulk, even though her body was still thin.  
She took the reins and took a breath. Agro pawed the ground, head bobbing.  
“Go, Agro!” Monolith yelled. The mare sprung forwards, heading for the edge of the stone. They were running, running, and suddenly they were in the air as she leapt from the lip with a whinny. They seemed to hang in place for a moment, suspended above the sand, and then they hit the ground, earth flying up around them in puffs. Agro never broke a stride, running straight as an arrow.  
Astride the mare, Monolith could no longer feel the shaking in the earth, but she could still hear the rumbling. And the colossus no doubt could tell where the horse was running.  
She guided the mare towards the center of the sand pit. Her hooves beat the ground, but that wasn’t the only thing causing the sand to tremble. She kept a sharp eye out around her, and when the dunes started to split, she turned Agro away, fixing her gaze on the far wall.  
The colossus was chasing them. Sand was flying into the air as the ground shook. Monolith put her trust in Agro and twisted in the saddle, facing the oncoming beast. It was cutting through the sand like water, dipping and dodging. She saw the empty eye socket tip above the sand, then dive again. Orange glow spilled forth as the beast’s remaining eye peered at its prey.  
Monolith flung out her hand, lightning arcing from the sky and out of her fingers. Where it struck the sand, it turned it to jagged tubes of glass. The barrage shattered around the beast’s stone face, the eye blinking out of sight. But now astride Agro, Monolith was moving with the wind, and the colossus could not catch them. Timing her strike with the surging of the colossus, she called forth the lightning again and watched it shatter that great orange eye.  
The beast shrieked, blinded. Its head dipped, and Agro cut to the left before Monolith even told her to. The horse dashed from the path of the beast, ears pinned flat to her head. Monolith swung herself off the saddle and hit the ground running, skidding to a stop. She turned to see the colossus slam into the wall with a crunch, furred back arched.  
Agro was running away, bravado finally broken as her rider, who gave her confidence, had left her. Monolith let the horse run, eyes fixed on the colossus. She was one, maybe two, strikes away from completing the harrowing fight. She would be happy to leave this sandpit behind.  
The beast was thrashing as it had before. She skidded around the piles of thrown sand, jumping onto the colossus’ back. Head buried in the sand, absorbed in its blindness, the beast paid her no mind and continued to sway like a tree in a storm  
The final weak point was near where its head was buried into the sand, a long crawl up and over the arch of its body. She scuttled like a spider, hoping the beast wouldn’t regain its senses and dive under the sand, feeling the intruder on its back. The last thing she needed was to be dashed against the sand as the beast dove from her grasp.  
But that would not be her fate. She reached the weak point, mind set to the rhythm of the beast’s thrashing. She timed her strike and struck true, blade cutting through fur, skin, and stone. She heard a terrible, muffled shriek through the sand as she ripped her sword free, grey fluid splashing across her face. The beast thrashed wildly and she splayed her feet, hands gripping the fur beneath her with iron force. The rhythm was burned in her mind, she knew when it would stop-  
The end to the bought of thrashing came about like the calm before the storm. She plunged her sword down again, teeth bared in a primal snarl. Her eyes glowed triumphantly as she felt the beast beneath her stiffen. Like a limp loop of rope, it sagged to the side, sand sliding up from around its head. The weight of its body shifted the dunes, sand forming its final tomb around it. Most of its head remained buried in the sand, so Monolith couldn’t see its empty and shattered eyes.  
She slid from its back, glad to feel the warm sand beneath her feet unaccompanied by the terrible rumbling. Now that the beast was no longer tunneling beneath her, the cavern was eerily still.  
Agro was making her way over, eyes fixed cautiously on the body of the colossus, as if worried it would wake up again. Monolith shook her head; even if one could somehow bring the beast back to life, it would be blind. And blinded, it would be unable to avoid the spires and walls of stone. It would be trapped, only able to move slowly so as to avoid crashing into what it couldn’t see.  
Souls were prying themselves out of the beast’s wounds, escaping through the holes in the cavern ceiling. Monolith’s soul followed her as she walked away from the corpse. It floated over her shoulder like a parrot on a pirate; she offered it her hand and it sank through her palm, filling her with a sense of warmth and energy. And suddenly, she could feel the film over her eyes dissipating.  
Her surroundings were brightening as the clouds over her vision lifted. She could see light like never before; shadows were no longer inky voids, ominous and chilling. Fuzzy edges sharpened and details became apparent. She could see the cracks and crags of every stone around her; the tufts of moss growing from where water dripped; and the glimmer of grains of quartz amongst the dunes. Her vision had returned in full.  
She couldn’t stop the huge smile that spread across her face. She lifted her hands and stared at them in marvel, studying the curve of her claws, the brown fur beginning to regrow on her knuckles, and the stone guards on her forearms, which were carved with a simple but attractive design. Thick, healthy-looking fur covered her forearms, poking out from beneath the guards. The rest of her arms were bare, her skin like thick, grey leather.  
She was still staring at her hands when she exited the cavern, coming to a halt next to where Mono stood in the safety of the tunnel. The woman looked up at her, eyes widening.  
“Your eyes are glowing like lanterns,” she said. Monolith blinked, half not hearing her, and looked up.  
“The beast gave me my vision back,” she replied. “I am in awe of everything around me I did not see before.”  
“Everything around you?” the woman questioned. “You’re staring at your hands.”  
Monolith frowned and let her arms drop. Even still, the woman did not hold back on her words.  
“I will try not to act too much the tourist on our way back to the Shrine,” she said.  
“That would be agreeable,” Mono said. “But why do you need to go back?”  
“I need time to reflect,” she replied. “With vision comes perception, and with perception comes understanding. I must reflect on what I have learned, and what more there is to know. My eyes are not just clearer; my mind is as well.”  
“As you wish,” Mono replied simply, patting Agro’s nose. The mare still looked a little nervous, but watched the woman with fond eyes. The infant on her back giggled, hand waving at the horse.  
Monolith tried to do good on her promise, but everything outside was like new to her. The sun had never been more beautiful; the wind pushed the grass in gentle waves, like an ocean of green. The landscape around them was pure wild, and pure beauty. But in the crags and broken rock, she could see the places where godly bodies had struck the earth, where magic had shattered stone, and where the earth had been torn up by the clashing of armies. To a human, it was a simple, wild landscape. But she could read its history now.  
Perhaps there was something hidden in the land that could tell her where Dormin had gone to. Certainly, the activity of a major god should have left a mark. Or maybe, she could find a trace of the human who had been here before her.  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


	14. Fire and Water Pt. 1

Fire and Water Pt. 1

_It knelt here, on one knee. Its other foot was up. It took small steps, but was dragging the other knee like the leg was disabled. It struck, with hand or weapon, in front of it, fighting an unknown enemy. There, there, and there._  
Monolith knelt within a mark on the floor of the Shrine, a subtle amalgamation of broken tiles, packed-down dirt, and lines in the dust. These details were beyond the notice of all human eyes except the most thoroughly trained, as Seln claimed there was one man who could see such things. Monolith had never heard of such a man, but Seln reassured her he existed.  
She would have never noticed these details either, not without her restored vision.  
 _And then, it moved across the floor as if caught in a sudden wind. No steps taken, dragged. And then, here, its weight becomes low enough that it can no longer break the tiles upon the floor. It’s shrinking. It still disrupts the dust and the dirt. But then, that also ceases._  
She was standing in the archway, the empty, shallow pool in front of her. Light spilled in from the doorway far above, reachable by the ramp that spiraled around the exterior of the room.  
It was here that all trace of whatever had inhabited the Shrine vanished.  
Monolith knew that the disturbance happened recently, for marks in the dust never stick around for long. Unless one of the colossi had gotten into the Shrine (highly unlikely), something else mystical had been here.  
Dormin was the likely culprit.  
She walked to the edge of the empty pool. The stonework and dust was undisturbed on the rim, and the pool itself was dry as a bone. However, the layer of dust lining the pool was lacking compared to what was around it.  
She stepped into the pool, a slight feeling of worry setting over her. Was it magic she was sensing, or simply her own nerves?  
The pool, when filled, would be flat and still as a mirror. A scrying pool, she realized, for the gods to use while at the Shrine. Scrying pools were enchanted bodies of water most often used to visualize far-away people or places, but they could have multiple purposes. As long as the water remained in the pool, its magic was intact. From prior knowledge, she knew that scrying pools didn’t evaporate, so something else must have disrupted it.  
The pool could have easily been drained during the war, but the patterns in the dust suggested otherwise. It had recently been filled.  
She stopped in the center of the pool, eyes caught on a mark in the stone. She knelt to examine it; it was a scratch, small and unassuming, but cut deeper than the mortal eye could see. Feeling the scratch with a claw, she discerned clean edges, cut by something incredibly sharp.  
 _Only a masterfully-made weapon could cut such a clean scratch into this god-touched stone. A weapon made by a god._  
Her eyes traced up the winding ramp on the exterior of the room. Drifting from the pool like a specter, she ascended the ramp with her eyes fixed on the stone. Someone, multiple someones, had run through this place in a flurry. The tracks of her own feet and of Mono’s marred the evidence, and there was something else; hoofprints.  
 _Could be Agro’s._ She could not make any definite assumptions from these prints, but once she reached the top of the spiral, she could see where Agro’s tracked diverged from the rest. The mare had gone up and down from the rooftop garden, while new tracks appeared, a cluster of beasts standing before the arched doorway of the Shrine.  
 _Many horses, many riders._ Perhaps Mono’s rescuer had not come alone, but with aid. That would make a lot of sense, seeing how it would be near impossible for a lone human to defeat all the colossi, and survive.  
 _But Dormin would only possess one body. His souls must have been able to select the finest warrior of the group to inhabit._  
But then why would Agro be left behind? And Mono had not mentioned her mysterious savior as someone who would work with a group. She had always referred to him singly, and never to anyone else.  
The tracks were all a muddle, and they seemed to be about the same age, just on the edge of vanishing. Nothing older could be seen, and so there was no hard evidence that Mono’s savior had arrived alone. And Monolith felt inclined to believe that the human hadn’t worked alone. What human could topple a mighty colossus?  
She returned to the pool, lost in thought. Of course, the human must’ve had access to powerful weaponry. She could get away with sharp metal bars on sticks because she was a god, and her intrinsic power put her beyond any human, even at her most decrepit state. And she was able to feel the magic of the colossi to know their weak points; a human would need some magical item to give them a clue.  
 _The Ancient Sword._  
She remembered Mono’s words, when the woman had gazed upon her godly blade. The Ancient Sword, a god-forged weapon, was part of Lord Emon’s collection, whoever that man was. Though, he must be very important, to have a collection with godly artifacts in it.  
The Ancient Sword had been a gift to mankind. Before, Monolith had not remembered why, but now she did; the humans had been supplied with god-forged weapons so they could have a sliver of a chance against Dormin and his fellow entities. The Ancient Sword had been one of many weapons made. The humans had taken them to war with Dormin, arming their best fighters to face the gods while the lesser folk, with lesser weapons, dealt with the waves of monsters that descended from the Higher Lands.  
Only the possession of such a weapon could enable a human to defeat the colossi.   
_Perhaps Mono’s mysterious savior was this Lord Emon fellow?_  
The woman’s discomfort with the identity of her rescuer could be explained as such; perhaps she was a commoner, and felt uncomfortable under the affection of a noble. Or maybe they were fellow nobles, and he was an unwanted suitor. After all, the one time Monolith had questioned the woman about her lineage, she had gotten very cagey.  
But she had mentioned Lord Emon by name, and never called him her rescuer. It seemed less likely, then, that he was it. Why avoid discussion of the man in those terms, but be comfortable mentioning him in others?  
 _When I had asked if her savior was an unwanted suitor, her reply had been that it was more complicated than that. What can possibly make an unwanted suitor more complicated?_  
Well, quite a few things. Maybe he was a creep; maybe he was blackmailing her. Maybe he had deep, dark secrets that made her uncomfortable. Maybe he was not of her station, or perhaps they were coworkers, and relationships between such people were discouraged. The list could go on…  
And then, of course, there was the strange infant. That could mean any number of things.  
Her eyes were on the scratch in the bottom of the pool. Made, perhaps, by the god-forged weapon that had slain the colossi?  
It had to be connected to the damage on the Shrine floor, which logically would have been caused by Dormin taking hold of his host’s body. The other humans retreat in horror as their fellow is gripped by possession...they try to slay him, but are too late and the monster emerges. Unable to fight a god with what they have, they run. Dormin limps after them, but cannot keep up due to his injured leg.  
They run up the ramp…  
Dormin would have escaped the Shrine eventually, lame or not. Something had swept him into the pool, using up its magic. Thus, the water was gone.  
 _It would take a quite powerful spell to incapacitate Dormin. He would not be at full strength, seeing how he was currently using a possessed mortal body, but a god nevertheless._  
There were spells that could extort the souls of possessors from their hosts, but those usually required lengthy rituals and many magical items. It was much easier to simply kill the host body, if it was still accessible, or trap both beings in a vessel.  
Striking the scrying pool with a god-forged weapon would combine their magical energies. Should the user be able to wield them, they could cast a spell of sufficient power.  
 _But are there really any humans left in this world that can handle such magic?_  
There was a noise behind her; it was Mono approaching, looking calm and composed.  
“What have you discovered, Monolith?” she asked.  
The god exited the pool, eyes fixed on the light coming through the great windows of the Shrine. “Let me tell you as we make our way to the eleventh colossus.”  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“That’s a far ways down.”  
Two figures peered into the ravine that had seemingly erupted from the earth in front of them, sand dunes suddenly opening up to reveal the gaping hole. Agro snorted and tossed her head, staying well away from the edge as Mono guided her around it. Monolith trailed after them, trying to get a glimpse of the interior of the ravine. With her heightened vision, she could see clearly to the bottom, but the sheer walls and narrow structure of the gash hid much from view.  
“There must be a way down,” she said. “I can feel my soul at the bottom.”  
“What if the colossus fell in there when it died?” Mono asked worriedly. “And there is no way down?”  
Monolith scanned the sheer sandstone walls of the ravine. “There, a set of switchbacks. That is the entrance.”  
The woman squinted. “I cannot see what you mean, but lead on.”  
The switchbacks came into view as they approached, rounding the ravine to come to their top. Agro snorted and backed away from the edge; she could go no further, for the path was too steep and treacherous.   
Mono dismounted carefully, eyes fixed on the ravine as if she expected something to come flying out of it. Hot wind whistled up the steep sides, holding nothing but dust.  
“Avoid the edge of the path, for it is worn and unstable,” Monolith cautioned, hopping down onto the top of the switchback path. “I can see where the wind has eroded the earth away.”  
“It is like you can see back in time,” the woman said, carefully following her. “Like how you described the fight in the Shrine, as if you could see the figures in front of you from just the marks on the ground!”  
“There is nothing magical to that, my lady,” Monolith replied. “It is just an exceptional eye for detail and great knowledge of how to read the signs in the earth.”  
“So you must be an exceptional tracker, then?” the woman asked.  
“I suppose so,” she replied. “But I never spent much of my past life hunting. I found no joy in chasing some poor, dumb creature through the woods until it died.”  
“Tell that to my father,” Mono muttered.  
Monolith cast her gaze over the multi-colored sandstone walls around them. “I am a god of the earth. Reading the earth is like reading a book to me.”  
They descended the rest of the switchbacks in careful silence, save for the random babbles of Mono’s infant. The ravine stretched out before them, a still body of water flooding much of its space. The water was the color of mud, choked with dust and stone, baking under the heat of the desert sun.  
“I can see this pool is shallow,” Monolith observed. “Nothing that would keep a colossus contained. These natural walls do that much better.” She gestured to the ravine around them, sandstone full of bright bands of color. “Take care, my lady, to stay near the path, if you must retreat.”  
“I would hope that you could keep the colossus on the other side of the water,” she replied promptly.  
Monolith rolled her eyes and grumbled under her breath. This woman was so...demanding sometimes. As if the world was automatically supposed to protect her, no matter what she did!  
On the other side of the pool rose a ruin, a soaring facade with fire sputtering within. The building receded back into the cliffs, snugly fit and neatly hidden. Dusty ground spread before it, patched with tufts of scrubby grasses and low bushes. A path led up the side of the ruin, which seemed to be the only way in.   
“This was once a pilgrimage site,” Monolith said, remembering. “Humans would come here to view the strength and beauty of magic, summed up in a physical form. Those fires, burning within, are gauges of the magic left in the world. The hotter they burn, the stronger the magic. Back when the gods and humans lived in harmony, those fires were white as snow…”  
“They look like regular brazier fires to me,” Mono replied doubtfully.  
“That is because very little magic remains with us,” the god told her. “But more than I would have guessed, it seems...I had expected these fires to be nothing more than tiny flickers.”  
“What keeps them burning?” Mono asked.  
“The braziers are enchanted,” Monolith replied. “Whatever fuel is inside them will burn forever without being consumed. As soon as the fuel is removed, the fire will soon leave it.”  
“Do you see the colossus anywhere?” the woman questioned, shielding her eyes. “I see nothing.”  
“I can feel my soul inside the temple,” Monolith said, “but the space inside is surely too small for a colossus. Unless this colossus is unusually diminutive, which would present an interesting challenge.” She stepped into the water, mud squishing between her toes. The murky pool was as warm as it was dirty, and she found it a pleasing change from the chilling waters of the ocean.  
“Good luck,” Mono called after her. She glanced over her shoulder and nodded her appreciation before heading deeper into the water.  
The pool became too deep for a human, but her toes could still scrape the bottom. Walking was slow, however, so she pushed off from the bank and pumped her tail, getting herself across in only a few heartbeats. She pulled herself onto the opposing bank like an otter from a river, water rolling off her slicked-down fur. The temple loomed over her, open mouth high above.  
She paused to shake herself, water spinning off her body. The colossus was somewhere inside, and she felt an overwhelming curiosity about it. It had to be a small beast, otherwise it would never fit inside the temple. And what good was a small beast in the face of the other, much more massive, colossi?  
 _It has to have some ability, something that makes the size worth. Like the lizard colossus that spat poisonous gas._ She really hoped her next foe did not have the same weapon, for in an enclosed space like the temple, it would be absolutely deadly.  
She crested the path to the temple, noting the earthen terrace that surrounded the facade. There was a very large dent in the earth below the temple’s mouth, dirt churned and disrupted by a large weight impacting it. In fact, she could spot a flurry of marks all around the base of the temple, including on the path she walked.  
 _So the beast is not confined to the temple. The fight took it outside._  
The entrance to the temple yawned before her, light from the braziers sputtering through it. The stone tiles were ornately carved, as were the walls and supporting pillars. She stepped through, eyes gazing across the beautiful decorations. The gods had allowed human stonecarvers to work in this place, and they had created art that almost rivaled the gods’. Almost.  
She was at the back of the temple. About halfway to the open mouth, the floor had been shattered, rent in two. She could picture in her mind the devastating blast of magic that had destroyed the beautiful tiles, cutting into the very stone beneath the temple. Beyond the gash were the braziers, lining the walls in niches. And in the center of the floor was the still corpse of the colossus.  
It was surprisingly small, a sad lump of stone. The space inside the temple was enough that the beast could’ve been bigger, so Monolith resolved to use even more caution, for the colossus’ unimpressive size must be hiding some greater weapon.  
She crossed the rift in the floor in a stride, coming to stand next to the lump. To her shock, she was the same height as the corpse. When standing, the beast would be taller, but not by much. Its body was rough-hewn stone, and from its back dirt cascaded down its sides, tufts of brown fur poking up here and there.  
 _They are as much of the earth as the hills and dunes._ The corpse seemed like an extension of the floor in its resting state. It was a sight to behold, how well it fit into the rest of the world.  
She rested a hand on the beast’s head, feeling her soul inside. It willingly took the reins, and before she could even step back, she had been tossed as the beast threw its head, dirt exploding around it as it jumped to its feet.  
 _Aye!_ She rolled across the tiles, regaining her feet quickly. The colossus was shaking itself like a dog, the last of the dirt and roughness gone from it. It moved on stone feet like paws, legs solid rock all the way to its body. The entire beast was encased in stone, save for its back, where its armor had fresh, jagged edges.  
It charged at her with the speed of a horse. She dove from its path, avoiding its stone tusks and claws. The beast uttered growls and snarls like a cat, eyes blazing with orange fire. It charged her again, without pause or pomp. Unlike its much larger kin, it was as nimble as a dancer, rearing around like a massive horse.  
She dodged it again, running to the center of the room to face it down. Surely, this beast had caused the humans a great deal of trouble. She was fast enough to dodge it, but would a human be? The niches along the walls, where the braziers sat, were unreachable to the colossus, she could tell. The humans must have taken good advantage of them.  
But there was no time to think further about what the human’s plan might have been. With a roar, the colossus was charging again. She braced her feet against the tiles.  
 _I’ve gained a lot of my muscle back, and my weight with it...let’s see how much I can throw._  
Time seemed to slow down as the beast ran at her. Each thundering step cracked more tiles, sending shards of ceramic flying into the air. Its powerful shoulders hunched with each stride, rolling like a cat’s.  
She narrowed her eyes, hands coming up, fingers spread. When the moment was right, she sprang forwards, meeting the beast’s momentum with her own.  
Her fingers wrapped around the beast’s stone tusks, pushing all her energy against it. Lightning followed her from the sky, passing through her spines and out her palms just as they contacted the stone. The great meeting of forces was heralded with a thunderous crash.  
The colossus reared up, forefeet lifted a few inches from the ground. Monolith was pushed back across the floor but kept her footing, hands locked. The lightning had dazed the colossus, giving her the moment she needed to sense its weak spot. Only one, on its exposed back.  
She wrestled with the tusks, muscles in her arms bulging as she tried to force the beast’s head to the ground. The dazed look left its eyes and it tossed its head, throwing her. She tucked into a roll upon landing and dove to the nearest niche, hearing the beast snarl angrily as its too-wide paws battered the stone behind her.  
Safe in the niche, she could catch her breath. The beast’s broken armor must have been caused by its last fight, though how the human could’ve pulled that one off she hadn’t a clue. All she needed to know was the location of the weak point (she could’ve guessed it just as easily, but one can never be too careful). All she needed to do was get on the colossus’ back, and she had just the idea for it.  
She climbed the brazier, unsheathing her sword at the top. The fire burned merrily within its metal cage, bottom full of planks of wood, unburned. One such plank had been outside the temple, on the ground. Perhaps the human had tried to fight the beast with fire? She doubted the success of such a method.  
The beast charged her vantage point, making the whole structure shake as it crashed into the stone. Now was her chance, as it was stunned for a heartbeat.  
She leapt from the brazier, sword rearing up above her head. The scene was almost crystalline as she hung in the air, firelight glittering around her.  
She drove her blade down with deadly force, using the momentum of her fall to enhance the strike. It pierced through the colossus’ fur, skin, and stone flesh, entering its body up to the hilt. The beast screamed horribly, legs buckling. She twisted her blade within it and ripped it free, the gush of grey fluid like a geyser. Already, the colossus was stumbling, head drooping, and as it tried to make its way back to the center of the temple floor, it slumped to the ground as the trapped souls erupted from its back.  
She slid off its side, getting out of the way of the colorful torrent. Some souls, those of Dormin’s accomplices, fled from her like she was the plague. It was a good feeling, seeing them running scared like they should be.  
 _I’ll be after those traitors soon enough._  
Her own soul came dancing over, and it had a friend; a glowing-gold piece. She smiled, instantly recognizing it. A fragment of her dear friend, the ram. Tragically, she still couldn’t call his name to mind.  
The souls absorbed through her skin, filling her with great warmth. But instead of fading, the warm continued to burn, as if a fire had been ignited in her chest. Seln’s soul jittered wildly, seeming to like the heat.  
“Oh, what is it?” Monolith grumbled tersely, feeling a little nauseous. Then, she realized, her friend’s soul had gained enough of itself back to start developing its own awareness.  
 _Oh boy. Now I get to have another voice in my head. At least I like this one…_  
Her friend seemed confused; his awareness was limited. “You’re a cohost inside my body,” she said. “The other near-to-full soul is called Seln. Please get along.”  
She walked to the mouth of the temple, standing tall with her sword in hand. The warm breeze washed over her; she could see Mono on the other side of the pond, sitting patiently. She hoped the sun wasn’t too hot for the woman.  
Speaking of hot, her chest was still burning. She grimaced, putting a hand to her breastbone, which still protruded a little from her lingering emaciation. _What did you do?_  
Her friend’s soul seemed apologetic. A similar wave of guilt washed over her.  
 _I’m sorry, but I don’t remember your name._  
Neither did he, apparently.  
 _I made myself a new name. Would you like to do that too?_  
It took a few moments for her friend to form a reply, like he was thinking very hard about it. But after the delegation, it seemed that he wanted to hold out until he rediscovered his real name. And the burning-chest-feeling he could explain.  
“Ok, so you want me to go outside and…” suddenly, Monolith really needed to sneeze.  
She was already outside, standing on the edge of the temple’s mouth, so it seemed a good enough place as any. Irritated, she shook her head and sneezed.  
Fire shot out her nose.  
“WHAT?” she managed to splutter before sneezing again, shooting more fire. And again. And again. Mono was on her feet now, gaping from the other side of the pond.  
“Just needed to get the bugs out, eh?” she gasped, stumbling back. The burning feeling had stopped, but she still felt a new, inner warmth in her chest. The power belonged to her friend, like the lightning to Seln. Except, unlike the lightning, she didn’t really have the anatomy to control the fire very well.  
“For the sake of all that is good…” she muttered, wiping her nose, which, due to the fact it was made of godly stone, had remained unburnt. That she was very thankful for.  
She hopped down from the temple, dust poofing around her feet as she landed. Of all the things that had resulted from the defeat of a colossus, this had to be one of the strangest so far. Thanks to her friend’s cohabiting soul, her body had inherited the ability to sneeze fire.  
What that could be useful for she had no bloody clue.  
But long story short, she was one colossus closer to finally getting answers.  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------


	15. Fire and Water Pt. 2

Fire and Water Pt. 2

“I hope you remember the way back through that forest, because I would not like to become lost again.”  
Agro snorted as if to agree, happy to be trotting along the cliffside path and no longer within the tangle of forest they had spent the better part of an hour circling. Monolith had led them across one of the many land bridges into the forest, following her soul’s call. She had guessed the colossus would be hiding within the trees, but her trail had led them right to a sheer cliff, an impassable wall.  
“It is not my fault that the path winds as so,” she replied grouchily to Mono, walking ahead of the woman on the horse. “I would have followed the wall closer too, if I had not feared falling to my doom in a ravine, hidden by all that undergrowth!”  
Agro, despite having walked the path before, had not been much help getting through the forest. She kept becoming distracted by the cries of a circling hawk, and for all her good graces, was still a horse who was used to be told where to go. Monolith’s frustration had become so strong she was sure the mare could smell it.  
“I hope you gods had better roads than what still exists,” Mono said.  
“Of course we did,” Monolith replied, mildly offended. “The war that occurred here tore the land to ribbons. Most of these land bridges are the remnants of greater things.”  
“Threads above ravines, torn open by falling gods,” Mono quipped.  
“Very poetic,” Monolith muttered.  
Agro snorted and stopped suddenly, tipping Mono forwards in her saddle. She cursed and regained her balance, frowning at the horse. She then frowned at Monolith, who, in front of the mare, had caused the sudden stop after rounding a corner.  
“What?” she asked, looking at the god. “Why have you stopped?”  
Monolith didn’t answer. She was staring at the ruins in front of them, stone arches of grand size spanning the thundering river, which then fell away into a grand waterfall, moving to join the ocean far beyond. The sound of the waterfall vibrated the air itself like a supernatural symphony, blending in with the whistle of the wind.  
“This…” Monolith trailed off. “This used to be where the stables were, for the heavenly creatures we brought to this earth. The isolation of the place makes it quiet and hard to find, and this is the only path to it, so if something escaped, it had few places to go. Once the war started...human troops used it for barracks.”  
“The building is gone,” Mono said quietly. “I imagine Dormin would have targeted the barracks to try and disrupt the human armies.”  
“A shame,” Monolith murmured. “The building here was quite beautiful, and all that remains is the facade, and only part of it. I remember the creatures they kept here, a kind of menagerie...they brought important humans here, for entertainment and relaxation. The look of shock on their faces upon seeing a real, living unicorn...I would say that I’d never forget it, but I obviously did.”  
Mono snorted in an unladylike fashion. “I visited a menagerie once, but found it lackluster. Just animals in cages, with nothing interesting to do...what’s the point, seeing them in such an unnatural way? I would much rather watch the beasts in the wild.”  
“Good luck finding a unicorn in the wild,” Monolith replied. “They rarely leave the Higher Lands, and when they do, you humans usually kill them within the year!”  
“I never understood my father’s love for hunting,” Mono muttered. “Especially for things like unicorns. What a waste of time, chasing a beast through the woods, killing it to only take a piece of it as a trinket.”  
“To be fair, a unicorn’s horn is a powerful magic object,” Monolith said. Mono glared at her.  
Their path ended here, where a great chunk of rock had fallen across the path, wedged between the cliff and a pillar. Mono dismounted Agro, walking over to the small shrine that was nestled in the cliff face. The inscription on the shrine’s surface almost seemed to glow faintly. It was beautiful in its simplicity.  
“If you can manage the crawl across this pillar, you may come with me,” Monolith said to the woman. “But if you fall, that current is swift, and will carry you over the falls before I can save you.”  
The woman frowned, clearing weighing her options. Monolith could tell she wanted to cross the pillar - damn her recklessness! - but she was also well aware of the dangers of the rushing river. It was not just her life she risked, but the child’s as well, the child who was a key piece to the puzzle they were trying to figure out.  
“I would not cross, if I were you,” the god said bluntly.  
Mono glared daggers at her. “Normally, I would like to prove your endless worry for me illegitimate, but in this one circumstance I believe I will have to yield. I will stay here.”  
“Good,” Monolith replied, whiskers twitching at the prod. “I apologize for the lack of good seating, my lady.”  
“Oh, get your holy hind end out there already,” the woman grumbled, sitting down on the moss-covered ground.  
Monolith snorted, rolling her gleaming eyes. _Humans…_  
She left the woman behind, jumping onto the broad pillar and scaling across it with ease. The strength in her hands was sure and nimble, and the spray kicked up from the river dusted her fur with drops like tiny gemstones. She felt as good as she imagined she looked, a godly creature of the bear, otter, and ram, the tops of her gleaming golden horns barely scraping twelve feet. Though she was still thin, muscles rippled under her healthy pelt, and enough of her fur had grown back to make her seem no longer like a naked, sick beast.  
She dropped onto the soft ground on the other side of the pillar, facing the grand lake that expanded beyond the stone arches. Her soul was out there, calling strongly.  
She took a breath and plunged into the lake, waters less frigid that she expected. The current from the river’s flow tried to pull her backwards, but she beat her tail powerfully and cut through the water like a knife. The swim would have been slow for a human, but she imagined a fit individual could do it.  
There were fish in the lake; she could see them with her renewed eyes. Her vision pierced the murk, allowing her to see for many yards when before she could barely see beyond her own nose. The small, scaled creatures were dwelling near the bottom, unconcerned by her passage across the surface. They were watching her, she knew, but would only flee if she dove for them.  
 _Not many predators for them around here._ She would have thought that the war would have killed all the fish, but a few could have survived, fleeing into the tunnels and caverns carved into the lakebed. Natural processes of erosion - they could create wonderful things.  
The shadow of the great arches passed over her head, and the bulk of her quarry came into view. It was resting against the lakebed, which was deep enough to be on the very edge of her vision. As she approached, she judged the depth of the lake to be roughly forty-five feet.   
And as well, the colossus wasn’t actually resting on the lakebed. It was floating, back at the surface, while its legs and head dangled into deeper waters. The beast was big enough that it touched both the surface and the lakebed at the same time. And its legs were bent.  
 _No bother to how big it is! I can kill it._  
Seln bounced inside of her. She sighed.  
 _We can kill it._  
She reached the corpse, stopping before it to tread water. She stared at its head, frowning.  
 _Are those...molars?_  
Indeed they were. She immediately felt a sort of disgust rise in her stomach, though teeth were not something that upset her. It just seemed very, very...unnatural.  
Had something lopped off the top half of the beast’s head? Had the human done that? Was that even possible?  
She grasped the stony edge of the beast’s shell-like back and hauled herself onto the moss-covered surface. Studying the well-worn edges, she determined that the loss of half a head must have occurred long ago, so long ago that all the sharp and broken edges had been worn away.  
The humans who captured Dormin surely wouldn’t have designed such a hideous creature for one of their colossi?  
Surely?  
It was so unsettling, she considered using Seln’s lightning to destroy the beast upon her final blow. But seeing how she was standing in the middle of a lake, such an action could have repercussions for her own health. So she decided against it, much to Seln’s disappointment.  
 _Maybe some other time, you violent creature._  
For a minor god who spent most of her life drifting where the winds would take her, she sure had a destructive streak.  
She walked up to the highest point on the beast’s back, which seemed to be roughly where its shoulders were. The pearly molars floated just below the water.  
She crouched, taking hold of the clumps of moss beneath her hands, and called the colossus to life.  
The water around her rippled, like a mirror suddenly distorted. She felt vibrations run up from the beast’s feet as they scraped against the lakebed, joints moving to try and get its feet flat so it could rise. It moved slowly, as if fouled by tangles of underwater plants. And then, instead of rising, it dipped beneath the surface.  
Monolith barely had time to take a breath before being plunged into the murk. The colossus seemed to have little interest in wallowing around above water; after all, it didn’t need to breathe. She would have to...convince it to surface.  
As well, she could feel where the colossus’ weak point was. And there was only one; on its belly.  
 _Of all the blasted annoying places to put the thing…_  
She had to admit, it was a very smart design on the human’s part. Where the magic had to be weak, they would make its defenses strong.  
And there wasn’t a conceivable way she could plot to climb to the beast’s belly. The turtle-shell of its back overhung grey, pebbly skin that offered little in the terms of purchase. She could swim to her target, hoping to avoid the thrashing legs and whatever other attacks the beast could dole out. That seemed like a viable option, but she would have to get the beast relatively stationary first. Down on the lakebed, it seemed content to continue its lazy, circular walk, moving on bent knees like it was a crawling infant.  
She was going to need air soon. With nothing else to do, she called her sword to hand and plunged it through the thick moss below her. Muffled by the murky water, the colossus bellowed, head jerking. Then, with a surge of motion, it rose towards the surface, legs unfolding.  
The water broke above them in a massive wave, spray flying high into the sky. Monolith gladly drew in deep draughts of air, standing up upon the beast’s shoulders. The colossus had quit its circling, as she had hoped. It shook itself vigorously, trying to throw her off. She would leave it soon, but on her own terms.  
Standing, the water was halfway up the colossus’ chest. Its belly was farther below, protected by the murky waters and the beast’s bulk. It would be a fair dive to reach, but not impossible, and definitely doable, especially with Monolith’s powerful tail. She scurried to the edge of the beast’s shoulder, took a deep breath, and dove off, entering the water with a sleek splash.  
The lake churned as the beast noticed her dive. It was turning so as to face her; even without eyes, it still knew where she was in the water. She was right under its chin, swimming down its chest. She felt energy pulse through the water behind her, accompanied by heat. The colossus was shooting something at her, but she was too close to its chest to hit, it seemed. She wasn’t about to hang around and find out if she was wrong.  
After a short swim, the beast’s chest curved under. She passed between its thick, strong forelegs and beneath its stony, exposed ribs. Between those ribs was its unarmored belly, covered in mossy fur that waved delicately in the current. Above her, the colossus was turning in a circle, as if confused by where she had gone.  
 _This is a deep dive for a human. Her hands found fur and grabbed tight. Whoever defeated this beast before me must have been in amazing physical shape. An athlete, probably a warrior. A person very skilled with a blade and with the art of battle as well. Do they still have monster hunters amongst the humans? Those individuals would have the most experience dealing with large, dangerous beasts…_  
She thought as she stabbed, very aware of the fact that her oxygen was limited. The strikes brought bellowing cries from the colossus, distant and muffled through the water. It moved sporadically in its pain, but couldn’t generate much shaking force on its underside, bogged in the water as it was. It made the job all too easy.  
As soon as she felt the muscles beneath her hands stiffen, she pushed from the beast and swam away quickly. It was buckling, sinking towards the lakebed, and trapped under its bulk was the last place she wanted to be.  
Her head popped above the surface and she inhaled thankfully, blinking water from her eyes. The lake was frothing where the colossus had been, and moments later the colorful soul tendrils pierced the surface and zipped away into the sky. Monolith swam away from them, pulling herself back onto the grassy bank beyond the arches by the time her own soul reached her.  
It had a tagalong, but she was beginning to be unsurprised by that. The more soul she regained, the more powerful she became, and the stronger her call to other souls was. The tagalong appeared to belong to the healer she housed, so she accepted it eagerly.  
Warm energy washed through her as her hands glowed a faint green. And then, with the new souls balancing themselves inside of her, she was no longer a her, but a they.  
Seln was still unapologetically female. And that was quite alright.  
Monolith lifted their head and stood, shaking vigorously to rid their fur of the murky lake water. Mono was peering around the other side of the pillar, the best view of the scene she could manage.  
“That went quite quickly,” she said.  
“The beast had but one weak spot,” Monolith told her. “On its belly. Once I latched on, it could not get me off.”  
They jumped onto the pillar and crawled around to its other side. The woman took a step back, looking concerned about something.  
“What is it, my lady?” Monolith asked. “You look unwell.”  
“I…” she trailed off. “I am shocked by the great variety of these beasts, and they seem to only get harder and harder. I cannot fathom how they were beaten before.”  
“You have finally reached my level of thought,” Monolith snorted. They walked over to Agro and rested a hand on the mare’s neck. “The more I think of it, the more I want to believe that your rescuer did not act alone. But there are other details that do not line up with the theory, such as this faithful horse. Why would they leave her behind?”  
“Why would they leave me behind,” Mono grumbled, crossing her arms.  
Monolith blinked. They hadn’t thought about that issue; surely, unless all the humans involved had been killed, they would not have left the woman behind. And the evidence was clear that a party had escaped the Shrine on horseback. But they had been attacked…  
“Something big drove the men away, as I explained to you before,” they said. “Perhaps your rescuers simply couldn’t reach you in time.”  
Mono balled up her fists. “All the more reason to hate Dormin...what a fiend, to bring me back to life but leave me trapped in this empty, desolate land. He cares not for the bargains and deals he makes. His words mean nothing. He has no honor.”  
The child on her back waved its hands and wailed, as if to agree.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------


	16. Sky and Earth Pt. 1

Sky and Earth Pt. 1

There were twelve beams of light in the sky now that Monolith could see. Mono could see the last four, but even with their eyesight restored, the god still remained unable. If it was some sort of magic or just an illusion spawned inside their own brain, they didn’t know.  
But they could still feel their souls, of course. And their draw was powerful.  
Mono winced, shielding her eyes from the sun. “Why is is so bright here? All we have done is rounded the mesa; it should be just as bright as on the other side.”  
“This is the gods’ sacred desert, my lady,” Monolith told her, loping alongside Agro. “Deserts are important to all theology, for while they appear barren at times, life continues to reside within them, and will always return.” They watched the edge of the desert approach with solemn eyes. “It is a great metaphor for the gods themselves; while at times we may seem to have abandoned this lower world, but we will always return.”  
Mono shivered. “I don’t like the implications that metaphor has for Dormin.”  
The god shrugged. “It is just a metaphor, my lady.”  
Agro passed over the edge of the sand and the sun got another notch brighter, so much so that looking into it was impossible. The sand muffled the horse’s hoofbeats and Monolith’s own footsteps. Dunes sprawled out before them with majesty, not at all like the cramped, underground arena they had so recently fought within. Ruins, stone arches like horseshoes, jutted from the sand, windward faces worn smooth. When Monolith gazed upon them, they felt a particular hum in their ears; yes felt, not heard, for the only sound was the whistling of the wind.  
“Do you feel that?” they asked Mono, eyes fixed on the nearest ruin.  
“Feel what?” the woman asked, perplexed. She followed the god’s gaze to the ruin. “Is something wrong?”  
“When I look upon these ruins, I feel a deep hum,” they replied. “It is faint, very faint. If you cannot feel it, it must be magic, then.”  
“What else would it be?” Mono grumbled, turning away and flicking Agro’s reins.  
Monolith followed her, eyes now upon the central ruin, which all the others seemed to face. It was a round stone platform, tiered once, and surrounded by crumbled pillars and arches. It had the look of a long-buried and forgotten gazebo, something that would have been quite beautiful in its day.  
Mono, ahead, gasped. “Is that…”  
“You finally see it,” Monolith replied. Their sharp gaze had been able to pick out the ribbon of stone from much farther away, but they had chosen to remain silent, knowing there would be no use speaking of the colossus until the woman herself could see it.  
The woman was now spurring Agro, rushing to the corpse as fast as she could. The mare kicked up sand, and Monolith felt her nostrils irritate. Quickly turning her head, she sneezed away from the woman, fire shooting from her nose. Gods, this condition was embarrassing.  
The corpse expanded in front of them, impossibly long. Sand had piled up around its sides, winds working to hide it from the world. But the winds could not hide something so massive so simply; no sand dune would rise this sharply from the ground, nor be so narrow and long. Stone fins projected from beneath the grains, and Monolith could still see where patches of fur lined the colossus’ back.  
“Do you think it is another burrower?” Mono asked. “It looks like a snake, just like the last colossus that lived among the sands.”  
“I hope not,” Monolith replied. “There is much less here in terms of safe ground, unless you want to climb that butte.” They pointed to the mass of stone rising from the sand, its shadow covering part of the colossus’ corpse.  
Mono made a face. “A ridiculous notion. Perhaps this beast just slithers over the sand, like some terrible desert serpent.”  
“Only one way to find out,” Monolith said, walking towards the corpse. “You may want to ride far from here, my lady. There is no knowing what this beast will do.”  
Mono clucked to Agro and flicked the reins; the mare turned and cantered back towards the ruin, where they would at least have the safety of solid ground.  
Once the two were safely within the ruins, Monolith turned back to the corpse. They rested their hand upon the furred hide, fingers displacing the thin layer of sand that had washed over it. The beast’s skin was warm from the sun, almost as if it was alive.  
And then, it was. A great wind blasted across its body, sand flying into the air. Monolith shielded their eyes, feeling grains pepper their hands and arms. The beast was rolling, entire body rippling like a ribbon. It was putting its belly down, they realized, its furred back rolling towards the sky. And then, it plunged its long, pointed snout into the sand and dove, blasting beneath the dunes before Monolith could get a good look at it. They jumped from its path, not wanting to be knocked away by the undulating body as it passed, sand flying in its wake. At its tail end, triangular fins rotated and tucked to its sides, sliding under the sand effortlessly.  
Monolith could feel the ground shaking, but the beast was moving away from them. They expected to feel the colossus turn about and begin a charge, but it did not. It continued to tunnel away, vibrations weakening.  
_Well, I guess if it won’t come to me, I will go to it._ They started running, following the rumbling. They were heading back towards the ruins where Mono stood, but not directly. Hopefully, the colossus wasn’t going for her, seeing the human as an easier target than the god. It didn’t seem to be on that course, but it could turn at any moment.  
The rumbling intensified, and the dunes split in front of them, revealing the sharp silhouette of the colossus’ head. It was rising, practically vertical, into the sky, four great fins expanding from its sides. It twisted like a ribbon, and Monolith spotted the white-colored sacks rippling on its underbelly, between its fins. Air sacks, they must be, full of magical gases that made things fly.  
Only one other colossus had flew, and its takeoff had been much less graceful than this.  
They broke into a sprint, heading for where the beast still emerged from the sand. The ribbon of its body was slipping by, and soon it would be out of reach. Its midsection passed, more fins rotating out to catch the air as the gasbags between them expanded. Slitting their eyes, Monolith ran right into the great dust cloud it had kicked up, sand beneath their feet shaking as if in an earthquake. Sandy brown fur flashed before them and they leapt, hands outstretched. Fingers found fur and latched on with an iron grip. They were yanked skywards at a sickening speed as four more fins expanded around them, the tail of the colossus held up by its third and final set of gasbags.  
They had made it to the beast, barely. It was leveling off its climb, soaring above the desert at a height that would certainly cripple a mortal. But a god? Monolith felt confident that they could handle the fall, if they had to.  
Belly pressed to the beast, they could feel its weak points. It had three, spaced along its back. They could see the closest one, beneath a vertical fin, three fingers of stone holding hide stretched between them. The points were centered on the beast’s back, on what would be its spine.  
_Magic that helps power the gasbags, perhaps?_ That would be a logical place to anchor the very sensitive and powerful flight magic. They made their way to the first point. Behind the vertical fin, the point was quite sheltered, so much so it was downright pleasant to sit there. The wind was cut off completely, and the shade from the fin was wonderful after being out in the blazing sun. Despite the nuisance on its back, the colossus was flying quite calmly as well. Monolith could almost imagine they were on the back of a gentle giant.  
But that was not so. Summoning their sword to their hand, they plunged the blade into the beast’s back. It gave a high-pitched scream, body bucking. With the sword ripped free, the magic below was shattered. The colossus was no longer peaceful, body rippling with agitation. Feeling confident on their feet, Monolith darted from beneath the fin and ran for the next weak spot. The distance was pretty long, so there was no point in waiting around.  
The beast had dove into the sand once, and could easily do so again, forcing Monolith off its back. While that wouldn’t be the end of the fight, it could easily bring complication to the struggle. If the colossus spotted Mono and decided to go after her, there wouldn’t be all that much Monolith could do. Yes, they were a god, but they still lacked their full strength, and this colossus was fast as a horse and strong enough to split dunes like water.  
The colossus’ body tilted, forcing Monolith to drop to a crouch and grab hold. The beast was rolling, the movement rippling down its body like a dog shaking off water. As soon as it was upright again, Monolith was back on their feet and running. They skidded beneath the middle fin, which was tilting backwards. As they drew back for the stab, they realized the fin was closing upon them like a clamshell.  
_Oh, gods!_ Monolith cursed and drove their sword down, feeling magic shatter beneath their feet. They rolled out from beneath the fin, which shut with the snap of a mousetrap. Caught beneath there, they could have suffocated, or been crushed by the weight of the sand when the colossus dove beneath the dunes, which it was proceeding to do. They called their sword back to them and it reappeared in their hand. Grey fluid spurted from beneath the fin as the blade vanished from the wound it had created.  
Shockwaves rippled up the beast’s body as it hit the dunes, piercing the sand like water. Monolith dove from its back as they neared the ground, rolling away from the impact site. Sand stung their back, flung outwards by the colossus. The ground was shaking as if caught in a terrible earthquake, but it was over as suddenly as it had started. The colossus’ finned tail vanished beneath the sand, which closed up behind it as if nothing had happened.  
Monolith broke into a run, tracking the rumbling across the dunes. They wanted to be near enough to the colossus’ emergence site to grab a ride up, but not so near that the beast struck them on the way out. Or not so far that they ended up on the tail again. Another run down the rippling and writhing length of the beast could spell a nasty fall.  
The rumbling was getting stronger, making the sand beneath their feet bounce around as if dancing. They slowed, trying to judge where the colossus would emerge. The dune in front of them burst open as if ripping in half, the beast’s narrow head appearing. They shielded their eyes from the flying sand and felt the dune shift alarmingly beneath their feet. One of the colossus’ long pectoral fins cut through the sand barely five paces from them, extending outwards as the beast took to the sky. The shifting sands threw them backwards as the second set of fins emerged.  
_On your feet!_ The beast would be adrift soon, free from the sand. Monolith scrambled upright and ran across the dune, arcing around to meet with the beast’s furred back. They leapt to their target and grabbed hold, stomach dropping nauseatingly as they were yanked away from the ground.  
_These kinds of acrobatics I could never have pulled off in a weaker state!_ The upwards force was enough to yank mortal arms from sockets. They clung on, and as the beast leveled out, began to climb hand over hand towards the third and final weak point.  
They were at the beast’s middle, just in front of the second vertical fin. Once it was safe to stand, they ran for the front, minding the beast’s every move. Each ripple and twist was enough to make even the most sure-footed warrior unbalanced.  
They reached the final fin, dropping to a crouch. The beast’s long pectoral fins stretched beyond them, beating rhythmically to turn the colossus. Unlike the last one that flew, this one used its wings only to turn, while magic and its gasbags kept it afloat. It was a marvel of magical engineering, as were all these beasts.  
Its narrow head was visible, the beast turning a wide circle. Monolith met its eyes, and realized it had three. And they were blue, blue as their own, and were watching them with nothing short of fear.  
The colossus wasn’t angry. It was afraid of them, and was trying everything in its power to throw them off and run away. They frowned, laying a hand to the beast’s back.  
_Something went wrong with your magic. You don’t want to kill me, you’re just trying to save yourself. You want to fly away, but something’s holding you here._  
They felt a pang of guilt, watching the colossus make yet another turn, steering away from some invisible barrier. They were going to kill this beast, even though it would never have harmed them, had they left it alone.  
_But I have no choice. My soul is trapped inside there._  
They inched their way to the last weak point and raised their sword high. _I’m sorry, beastie. I will try to find some way to undo what must be done._  
They drove their blade through the beast’s thick skin, feeling magic threads snapping and shearing. The colossus let out a high-pitched, plaintive cry, back buckling. Its fins lifted one, last time as the beast began to fall to the earth, gone limp. Monolith clung to it tightly as it crashed into the dunes, sending sand flying away from itself like tidal waves. Its great fins fell against the earth, no longer living stone, but unmoving, dead masses. Colorfuls bits of souls sprang from its back, but Monolith felt no joy in watching them spin freely into the sky. They sat down on the still fur, sand grinding under their feet. Already, it was as if the beast had never been alive. Nothing but a sculpture, moulded from the ground.  
They barely noticed the rejoining of their own soul fragment to the rest of them. Even the following swing of their gender didn’t rouse them from where they sat, staring to the horizon.  
Mono was approaching, Agro’s muffled hoofbeats becoming louder. She was calling out, but her voice sounded like it was coming through a wall of water.  
Monolith lifted her head. Her back was burning, where the two scars were. Where her wings should be.  
She bared her teeth, eyes squinting in pain. Her back arched involuntarily, muscles going stiff. Four spots of pain blossomed along her scars, as if someone had rammed a sharp stick into her back. She roared, lips pulled back from her teeth, and lunged forwards, rising onto one knee. There was no enemy for her to strike, however, and as soon as it had arrived, the pain departed.  
She was panting from the sudden pain and exertion. Slowly, she blinked her eyes and let herself become aware of her new state of being.  
Four blades of stone extended from her back, the anterior pair much larger than the posterior. They were shaped like the great fins of the colossus she had just slain, leading edges curved in a wonderful, lift-generating shape. She had found her wings.  
She was overwhelmed. Falling to her knees, she placed her hands against the colossus’ hide, feeling for its beautiful magic. The broken pieces were there, but without a soul to power the beast, it was truly a decaying corpse. She wanted to will it to life, but she had no power to do so. It had given her back her wings. But she still felt heavy and grounded.  
“Monolith!” Mono was right next to the beast now, yelling. The god jerked her head up, broken from her trance.  
“That was terrifying to watch,” the woman said, voice lower now that she had the god’s attention. “But with such great prowess, you slayed the beast! And you have regained your wings!”  
“They are useless,” Monolith replied bluntly. “Without the heart of my soul, they are nothing but decorations on my back. I have not the magic to go aloft.”  
Mono seemed taken aback. “Why so upset? This is another step towards victory.”  
“This beast not once tried to harm me,” Monolith angrily gestured at the corpse. She stood, balling her fists, and jumped from its back, landing with a thud in the sand. Standing up, she was now eye-to-eye with Mono, even thought she was sitting on the back of the horse.  
Mono shifted nervously. “And what of it?”  
Monolith turned away. “All the other colossi tried to kill me. This one, all it wanted to do was fly. Float on the breeze, go where it will. And I shot it down from the sky like a prideful young hunter shooting at ducks.”  
Mono crossed her arms. “I would hardly say that is a fair analogy. Ducks do not carry important pieces of one’s soul.”  
Monolith grumbled and shook her head. “You wouldn’t understand.”  
“Oh really?” Mono leaned forwards in her saddle, eye to eye with the god. “Why? Because I’m a wee mortal human?”  
Monolith started to growl, then jerked her head away, chastising herself for her angry behavior. “No. Because you didn’t touch the beast to feel its emotions. To understand them.”  
“It’s like the slaying of the unicorn,” Mono countered. “A hunter, in need of the animal’s horn to heal his ill wife, hunts down and kills an innocent, beautiful creature. It is a loss for one, but a gain for the other.”  
Monolith sighed, hanging her head. “The hunter saves his wife, but at a price. A tiny spark of beauty was wiped from the world. In the end, it matters not, for the other unicorns live on, and the humans live on, but the hunter never forgets the unicorn’s eyes.”  
The colossus’ three eyes were burned into her own brain. So full of pleading, so full of longing.  
“You can make it right,” Mono said quietly. “You are a god.”  
Monolith lifted her head. “I promised myself that I would. And I am not apt to make myself a liar.” She steeled her gaze. “I will find a way to bring that beast back to life and free it from its chains.”  
Mono frowned. “That’s not really what I meant, but if it will make you happy, then go ahead.”  
Monolith nodded firmly. “It will. Come, my lady, we must ride for my next contender. The heart of my soul awaits.”  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


	17. Sky and Earth Pt. 2

Sky and Earth Pt. 2

“-and so, the god, meditating on the highest mountain peak, became so enlightened that the sun himself came closer to him, wanting to hear his wisdom. In doing so, this world was warmed, and the great ice that covered it for centuries melted,” Monolith was saying. “Fertile forests and moors were revealed, and life returned. The god told the sun none of his wisdom, for the fiery being would never heed it, but in seeing the frozen land up close, he realized the horror he had created. So, he promised to never drift away again. Of course, being rash as he is, the sun stills finds himself forgetting his promise, but he always returns. And that is why we have the seasons. The sun moves farther away in the winter, but always returns in the spring.”  
Mono eyed her skeptically. “You mean to say that the sun moves? Besides rising and falling as it does, but away as well?”  
Monolith nodded. “Why else would it become colder in the winter? The sun is a never-ending source of heat, so if it never moved, the world would stay warm.”  
Mono squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. “I’m remembering something else you said about the sun. That it was made by a god, one who gathered the dust of comet tails, formed a ball, and breathed fire into it. And now you’re telling me the sun is also a god?”  
“Not quite,” Monolith replied. “The sun is an entity.”  
Mono crossed her arms. “How does a ball of comet dust become an entity?”  
Monolith shrugged, scratching the back of her neck. “Not all our stories make exact sense together, my lady…”  
“Indeed,” Mono snorted.  
She was following the god down a broken mountain path, weather-worn pillars of stone lining the way. In some places, one could still see the cobblestones poking up from beneath the dirt and grass.  
“This area was once a great residence, the closest we had to a city,” Monolith told her. “This was where the human pilgrims lived, as well as any permanent residents. Priests, doctors, scholars.”  
“I imagine it was beautiful in its day,” the woman said, eyes fixed on one of the pillars. “Even with the wear of time, the stone still maintains some of its beautiful design.”  
They entered a tunnel, walls crawling with moss. Agro’s hoofbeats echoed off the walls, as well as the drip of water. Before they even reached the spot, Monolith knew the tunnel would be flooded.  
Mono pulled Agro to a halt. “What a bother. I was hoping I could see a little more than this.”  
“I can carry you across,” Monolith offered, the reply out of her mouth before she had really thought it over. Mono hesitated, face considering.  
“From another human with the same relationship as you or I, that would be inappropriate,” she finally replied. “But you are a god, and the rules of etiquette say nothing on gods. You may carry me across the lake.”  
“Very good, because I want you to see this place,” Monolith replied, stepping into the water. She crouched down and offered a shoulder. “Step on up, my lady.”  
Mono frowned. “You want me to stand on your back?”  
“How else am I going to carry you?” Monolith snorted. “In my arms, like some lovesick suitor?”  
“Well, when you put it that way, I do believe this is the better option,” Mono said hastily, and climbed onto the god’s back. She was small enough (or rather Monolith was big enough) that she had just enough room to perch comfortably to the left of her lightning-gathering spines, feet braced against the scalloped plates of stone that armored her back. She held onto the leading edge of Monolith’s large wing with her hands, and the god held her wings out flat, like she was gliding. The infant on the woman’s back babbled, trying to grab one of Monolith’s spines.  
“Hold on,” Monolith instructed, and slid into the water. She moved her tail through the water gently, not wanting to throw the woman off her back by swimming too fast. She paddled by hand and foot, keeping herself high in the water so Mono’s feet stayed dry. The crossing was slower than it would have been, but it would be worth it. The ruins beyond were not something to miss.  
Her hands found the opposing bank and she pulled herself out of the water like an otter. Mono stepped off her back gracefully, walking a few paces away and waiting patiently as the god shook herself, water spinning off her fur.  
“You remind me of the palace dogs when you do that,” Mono snorted, wiping water from her face. And then she froze, expression shifting subtly. Monolith stared at her, the moment not missed.  
 _Let’s not jump to conclusions about her being royal or anything, but it would make a lot of sense._  
”You live near a palace?” she asked innocently.  
“You could say that,” Mono replied vaguely, composure regained. “The lord has his servants bathe his dogs outside in the grand courtyard, where many palace visitors relax. They are a sight to behold.”  
“Well, if you saw a bear or otter in the wild, you would know they are capable of the same thing,” Monolith told her. “If I recall, those are the two animals human books most often associated me with.”  
“I would agree with that,” Mono said.  
They continued walking, passing stalagmites and natural pillars of stone. The tunnel curved left, then right, as they passed some discarded blocks of stone, half-carved surfaces covered in dust. Mono paused to look at one for a brief moment.  
“It would appear that someone was struggling to execute this carving,” she said. “All the stones have the same design.”  
“Practice is the beautiful key to all success,” the god replied. “It brings back memories. But reminiscing aside, my lady, for we have arrived.”  
They strode through a high stone archway and the ruins spread out beyond them, far as the eye could see and vaster than anything they had come across before. They had seen temples, the great Shrine, ruins above lakes, and skybound areas, but this place was larger than them all. Monolith knew this; for what they could see was only part of what once had been a great city. Tunnels, long collapsed, threaded through the mountains, warren homes for the priests who chose to live simply. And the buildings, they had been vast and had touched the sky.  
“Terrible fighting occurred here,” she said quietly. “The cover of the buildings made this place an excellent fort, and the tunnels were almost impenetrable from the air. Dormin sent armies of monsters to try and overtake our forces here. The humans made up most of our ground defense, and they fought valiantly. In hindsight, I fear I did not give them the credit they deserved.”  
“Sounds like you,” Mono snorted.  
“I am beginning to think my past self was too prideful for her own good,” the god admitted, head dipping. “I did not appreciate the humans as I should have. It should not have taken the loss and regaining of my soul to figure that out, but yet here we are.”  
“Recognizing your faults is the first step to remediating them,” Mono said solemnly. “I respect that you have done so, Monolith.”  
The god grinned sheepishly. “I guess I should apologize for my underappreciation of you as well.”  
Mono crossed her arms. “Kill Dormin for me and I’ll accept that apology,” she jested.  
Monolith snorted. “Those are fair terms. Follow me, and watch the edges; I can feel that these ruins are crumbling.”  
She followed the call of her soul, leading her to a spot quite close to where they had entered the city at the eastern tunnel. As she gazed across the ruins, she could see plenty of new damage. Something, and she could guess what, had gone on quite a rampage through here.  
“See those fallen pillars?” she asked, pointing. “Those are recent, judging by the sharp edges at the break site, not yet worn by weather. I would amount that to random degeneration, except for the fact that I can see at least three pillars on the ground, all fresh.”  
“Those indents that circle the pillars would make good handholds,” Mono observed. “I imagine my rescuer was sheltering on top of them, and the beast knocked them down.”  
“It must be a smaller colossus, then,” Monolith said. “That is sensible; something large would have a terrible time navigating these ruins.”  
“The beast must be very strong,” the woman said quietly.  
“Even more a reason to stay away from the edge,” the god replied.  
They reached a partially-collapsed deck overlooking a small courtyard. Stone blocks littered the ground, originating from a collapsed wall that had once boxed the yard in. A larger lump of stone was the source of Monolith’s soul.  
“It is another small one,” she observed. The woman peered over the edge at the corpse next to her.  
“It looks pathetic, in relation to the others we have seen,” she said.  
“None of these beasts are to be underestimated,” the god cautioned.  
“Oh, I’m not leaving this platform,” Mono reassured her. “I want no part in these fights. They are just entertaining to watch.”  
“Lucky they’ve all gone decently well, then” Monolith grumbled. “I hope you would not have found my death entertaining.”  
“And I would be offended if you thought that I would,” the woman replied.  
“Fair enough,” Monolith snorted, and jumped down into the courtyard.  
She was taller than the sad lump of stone and fur, though that could change once the beast stood up. Would it walk on fours, like the other small beast? Or would it walk on two legs? Monolith had a strategy for victory, either way.  
She rested her hand against the lump, feeling assured by the energy she felt inside. Thinking back to the colossus she had just killed, she felt a pang of regret.  
 _I hope this one is vicious. I do not want to kill another harmless beast. Hah, never thought I’d be saying that about a colossus._  
Her hopes were upheld when she called it to life and the first thing it did was swat her into the nearest wall.  
She crashed against the stone, wings splaying out around her like a pinned butterfly. The spines on her back bent, becoming almost fluid to avoid being damaged by the impact. The beast was up, shaking its head and glaring at her with orange eyes.  
She dodged its next charge, kicking its flank as she passed, knocking it off its feet. She noticed the extensive damage to its armor, head misshapen and back exposed. It was crooked, stone armor cracked and damaged, face malformed. It looked like a building fell on it.  
She glanced at the collapsed wall. That could have done it.  
The colossus had regained its feel, shaking its head again. It emitted a heavy growl and charged again, veering around pieces of the ruin. Monolith ran up a stack of stones and leapt off the top, spreading her wings. She got enough spring from the move to catapult her back onto the collapsed deck, where the beast couldn’t reach.  
“I assume you have a good idea?” Mono yelled from the back, peering down at the growling colossus.  
“Of course I do!” the god replied, and jumped into the air.  
She landed on the colossus’ head, driving its face into the ground. Its rump popped up, hind feet churning the air helplessly. It surged, pushing up with its forefeet, and threw the god off its head. Monolith landed, hands spread for balance. The colossus’ weak point was where she guessed it was, on its exposed back. The human, quite brilliantly, must have found a way to collapse some part of the ruin on the beast, breaking through its armor.  
It was charging at her again. She strafed and leapt onto the wall, bounding off of it and over the colossus’ head. It skidded to a halt, turning to follow her, and she leapt again, sword appearing in her hand. The sky split open, lightning striking her spines. The power surged through her blade as she drove it through the colossus’ back and the beast shattered into burning chunks of stone, colorful souls exploding out of it like firecrackers. Mono’s strange infant babbled happily, clapping its hands.  
Seln bounced happily in Monolith’s consciousness, sparks still jumping around the end of her sword. “It was malformed,” the god said quietly. “I thought it would be better to destroy it than let it continue to blemish this place.”  
Her soul fragment was drifting over, with a small entourage. A piece of her friend, a piece of the healer, and some small, red fragment.  
“That’s a new one,” she said aloud, holding her hand up for the pieces. They gathered in her palm and absorbed through her skin.  
 _It’s to help you with the fire sneezing, her friend’s soul spoke up._ She jumped a little, not realizing that he had regained enough of himself to speak. _You haven’t had that much of an issue with it, but it would be very embarrassing if it happened in public._  
“I appreciate your thoughtfulness,” she replied. Indeed, the constant itchiness that had plagued her sinuses since defeating the other small colossus stopped with the addition of the red soul. It was a relief.  
 _You should be able to control it now, her friend said. I don’t think it will be of much use, but at least it will no longer distract you._  
“It is appreciated,” Monolith said, jumping back onto the deck.  
“You talking to yourself?” Mono asked.  
Monolith shook her head. “To my friend, one of the souls I’m carrying. He has almost all of himself back, save for the heart of his soul.”  
“Have they put all the hearts in the same place?” the woman questioned. “It seems like they have.”  
“I would agree,” the god said. “If I had to guess, I would say within the last colossus. It will likely be the hardest fight of them all.”  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


	18. The Last of the Guardians Pt.1

The Last of the Guardians Pt. 1

“No, snorting fire out my nostrils won’t help us with this,” Monolith said dejectedly.  
Mono’s strange infant had a cough. Mono had been sleeping when the baby woke her. It didn’t sound all that bad to the god, but then again, human immune systems could be disastrously fragile.  
“I mean your healing powers,” Mono replied, rolling her eyes. “Why would you think snorting fire would help?”  
Monolith spread her hands helplessly. “I have very little knowledge on how human medicine works, my lady. Gods very rarely get sick, and the sicknesses are of the mind and spirit, not of the body.”  
“Can you give it a try, please?” the woman asked. “A cough in a young baby like this can be deadly, even if it does not seem so.”  
“I will see what I can do,” Monolith said, offering her hand. Mono held out the infant in her arms and the god placed her palm on its chest. It was so small, she could have wrapped her whole hand around it and held it like a doll.  
She shut her eyes and let the healer’s soul expend its energy. But it came up with nothing; the child’s lungs were clear, his heart was fine, and there wasn’t any sign of disease. And suddenly, Monolith was hit with a wave of nausea that made sparks burst in her eyes.  
She jumped back from the child, shaking her head. “In all the Higher Lands-!”  
Mono’s eyes were wide. “What is it?”  
“It’s not sick,” the god grumbled, rubbing her eyes, “but something is definitely wrong with it.”  
“Well, we already knew that,” Mono said sarcastically, gesturing to the horns on the infant’s head.  
“I think this confirms one of my suspicions,” Monolith said. “I think we have discussed this before, but godly possession leaves physical marks on the body. It can also leave traces within your being, like a chronic illness. I believe I have encountered those traces.”  
“But why would Dormin possess a baby?” Mono asked. “Does that help explain where this, this child, came from?”  
“I think I can guess,” Monolith rumbled, eyes narrowing. “This infant is not a new being. It is what remains of someone else, whoever Dormin possessed. His last laugh, if you will. He was driven from the body he possessed, and in return, smote this being back to infancy and cursed it for life. What could be considered by some as a fate worse than death.”  
Mono looked unamused. “Cursed, maybe, but to me that seems petty. There is no one else here to look upon this child and declare them so.”  
“Dormin knows how to play games with your mind,” Monolith warned. “He kept his promise to bring you back to life, but in doing so, he thrust upon you the responsibility of this cursed infant. Of course, no one was there to tell you to care for the child, but that is the sort of trouble he wants to put you through. Hard decisions, moral decisions that can haunt you forever.”  
“I cannot wait to watch you wring his evil neck,” the woman growled, eyes stormy. “There is not a moment that goes by that I don’t wonder if I should have left this strange child in that basin to die. And then in return, my mind scolds itself for the thought. It is exactly as you said.”  
“Using such emotions and games of the mind is how Dormin persuaded some gods to join him,” Monolith told the woman. “He convinced them what he was doing was for the greater good of mankind and the gods. That he was creating a utopia for mankind, one that would never know hunger or famine or war. And in turn, the humans would follow the gods’ every word. Dormin would control everything, but with the way he spoke, you would not think so.”  
Seln’s soul suddenly gave a great jolt. Monolith blinked, the jolt so strong it gave her indigestion for a moment.  
“What is it, Seln?” she grumbled, holding back a very ungodly burp.  
 _Utopia,_ her friend’s soul told her. _You said the world utopia._  
“And?” the god asked. “I was just recalling the words of one of Dormin’s grand speeches. He called his plan a “utopia”.  
 _There are still holes in her memory, critical ones,_ her friend said. _Living in her with her has taught me as much. But remember how she was the one that flew to the god’s council with a terrible discovery?_  
“Yes, I do,” Monolith replied. “Are you saying that Dormin’s “utopia” was that terrible discovery? That he actually built something?”  
 _I think that is what she is saying,_ her friend confirmed. _Her exact memory is still lost, but the way she reacted to that word, and what I can feel from her…I think so._  
Seln’s soul was bouncing agreeably. Monolith frowned.  
“What are you three talking about?” Mono demanded to know. “I cannot hear their thoughts like you can, you know.”  
“Oh yes, sorry,” the god apologized. “Seln’s memory is almost returned, and she was the one who discovered evidence of Dormin’s crimes. That evidence may have been something that correlates with his fabled “utopia”. Something real and tangible.”  
“Like a city?” Mono asked. “That is usually what a utopia describes.”  
Monolith nodded. “Perhaps. I have hounded after this piece of Seln’s soul, but it continues to evade me. I am beginning to think that Dormin cut many of these souls himself, and hid the most important pieces with the hearts. In the last colossus.”  
“The safest place to keep such treasures,” Mono agreed.  
They fell silent for a moment, each one brooding in their own thoughts. Agro approached the woman and lowered her head, snorting quietly. The woman rubbed the mare’s nose absentmindedly; the infant in her lap giggled and reached for the horse as well. Agro dipped her head even more so the child could grab her.  
“We should continue on,” the woman said quietly. “I feel better knowing there is no sickness in this child, but there is still something not right with it. I want to fix it.”  
“I as well, my lady,” Monolith said. “But we must be wary, for when the last colossus falls, the hearts of our souls will be released, and the gods will return.”  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
They rode from the Shrine, turning about its west side and heading north. They rode along the rubble of the once-great bridge, earth turning to sand that flew from beneath Agro’s hooves in a glittering trail. They passed one of the old, great fruit trees, which Monolith climbed in a bound, snatching two fruits from the branches. Mono took a sliver, and the rest the god happily consumed.  
They came upon the great ravine that contained the temple with eternal flames, and rode beyond it. Monolith’s eyes rested upon it as they passed, wondering what the now-empty corpse of the colossus looked like.  
 _I wonder if their magic can be changed. If they can be made into their own beings, not tools only able of destruction._  
She shook her head and ran on. Better focus on the task ahead, which was much more pressing. She was hoping for another small colossus, but as they came upon another imposing building, she doubted that would be the case.  
“The variety of these places never fails to amaze,” Mono said. “Back at home, we have strict, defined types of architecture, and strict rules on where and when to use them. But here, it is as if each architect was free to do as they wished, from their own imagination.” She sounded almost like the idea horrified her. Were human architects untrustworthy?  
“Who’s going to tell a god that their design is not desirable?” Monolith asked. “The necessary function is achieved, no matter the form.”  
Many of the buildings in the Forbidden Lands had been temples, but not this one. The exterior was as heavy and fortified as any modern castle, imposing twin towers looming over a once-grated archway. This, Monolith knew, was the Fortress.  
Back in times of peace, when the gods met on mortal soil, they gathered within the Shrine. But in the times of Dormin’s war, they gathered within the Fortress.  
“Through here,” the god instructed, leading Agro towards the front of the Fortress. Sand had been blown into the entrance, but there was still a passage they could slip through, stone floor emerging. Thick, imposing piers flanked the narrow entrance, and just beyond them, a heavy column blocked most of the path.  
“This was the human entrance,” she said. “The gods entered above, through the archway.”  
They rounded the pillar and found their path blocked by another, fallen from the walls. Mono pulled Agro to a halt and dismounted, frowning.  
“Were the gods too large to come through a pass like this?” she asked.  
Monolith nodded. “Some of them. Dormin would be included, but he never set foot in this place.”  
The low wall that edged the entrance only came up to the god’s shoulders. She spread her wings and beat them once as she hopped, and she was up the wall in a heartbeat.  
She turned, crouching. “Would you like to come along, my lady?”  
“If you are offering,” the woman replied, and walked over to the wall. Monolith offered a hand and pulled her up, marveling at just how light mortal beings were. Well, in terms of how much a god could weigh, they were light. Everything was relative.  
They walked past the fallen pillar and followed the wall until it ended, meeting with the floor at the top of a wide staircase. Through a doorway lay another empty room, centered by a massive pier decorated with empty niches.  
“A gathering place for armies,” the god said. “As well, all doorways could become staunch barriers with a mix of magic and might. Dormin’s forces could break through one gate, only to encounter another. Some of these walls have hidden doors that led up to the tall towers flanking this place.”  
They rounded the room and came to face its rear, where a grand, wide staircase rose from the floor. The ceiling soared away above them, indicating that a great space lay beyond.  
“Up there is the Fortress proper,” Monolith said. “Where the armies of the gods gathered along the walls. While we never came under siege here, we were fully prepared to do so.”  
Heavy columns were visible beyond the top of the broad staircase, a walkway across part of them, crumbled on its ends. The staircase was broken in places, and the god had to help Mono across a few, but soon they reached the top. Another stretch of flat ground, then a short ramp, and then the heavy columns, which hid from sight what was beyond them. Wind blew from behind, coming through the empty archway that had once withstood the might of godly armies.  
They crossed the ground, which was covered in a layer of dirt from the wear of time. Each column that stood before them was thick as a massive jungle tree, the spaces between them only wide enough for two men to walk abreast. Above them, the crumbled walkway was all that remained of the larger path meant for the gods.  
“By the gods, this place is huge,” Mono gasped as they rounded the columns. The interior of the Fortress stretched away in front of them, walls rising tall and proud. Remnants of bridges poked into the sky above, having once connected the walls together. Up the walls were multiple walkways; one could imagine them full of an array of fantastic beings, all watching the sky.  
“Seems kind of silly to have a fortress without a roof and a wall,” Mono observed.  
“We ran out of time to complete the project,” Monolith replied bluntly. “And magic barriers work just as well as stone in a pinch.”  
The corpse of the colossus was near the center of the long building, slumped unceremoniously on the ground. A discarded weapon lay next to it, looking quite like a lump of stone, but Monolith’s sharp eyes could tell otherwise.  
“Let me see if I can get you to the top of the wall,” the god said to Mono. “You should be safe up there, just stay away from the edge.”  
The woman nodded, and trailed after the god as she poked along the northern wall. She rested a clawed foot on one of the low, decorative panels that lined the wall and frowned.  
“Time has led these panels to become loose,” she observed. “There is no way up the wall from down here, as a precaution to keep the humans from climbing it. But if I can lift this panel, you should be able to reach the first level.”  
“This place seems very designed to keep humans and gods separate,” the woman grumbled. “Seems…inconvenient.”  
“I was not the one who designed it,” Monolith said, shrugging apologetically. “Just because we fought alongside the humans, because we respected them, does not mean we were apt to share our personal spaces with them. Like, you would not share your quarters with mercenaries.”  
“I would not, but that is for reasons of etiquette,” Mono replied sharply. “A woman, a proper woman, does not just let men enter her space as they wish. They must be invited first.”  
Monolith snorted disdainfully, stone whiskers twitching. “You humans and your so many rules. It humors me, it does. You know, I once had to identify as male so I could enter a temple – one of our own temples here – while a delegation was inside, performing a sacred ritual. They would not let me in, for apparently the presence of any female spirit would taint what they were doing. So, being a god who identified as female, I was not allowed in.”  
“So you just changed your gender?” Mono asked, eyes very wide.  
“I’ve been changing genders with every piece of soul I retrieve,” Monolith snorted, entertained by the woman’s startled and slightly terrified expression. “Of course, you haven’t noticed, because nothing physical changes about a god with gender. It’s simply a mental thing.”  
“I – I think I have just learned more than any priest would ever tell me,” the woman replied, face slightly red.  
“You may want to stand back,” the god cautioned, summoning her sword. The woman scuttled backwards, clasping her hands tightly.  
Monolith lifted her sword, stepping back from the panel and turning her shoulder towards it. She gripped her weapon in both hands, swung it over her head, and brought the flat of the blade down on the edge of the panel. With a resounding crack, the panel lifted, scraping along the wall. The sword rung with energy, magic sparks jumping down its length.  
“Step on up,” the god said to the woman. She complied, and Monolith pushed down on the panel as hard as she could, lifting the woman within comfortable reach of the higher parts of the Fortress. She pulled herself up, dusted herself off, and looked around the enclosed space, more like an elevated loggia than anything else. The next story of the Fortress was above it, visible through some holes in the ceiling.  
Monolith leapt up to the first story, folding her wings and slipping neatly through one of the archways. “You have probably noticed the lack of staircases; that was another thing we ran out of time to build. But the pieces of ceiling have fallen and made their own way up. I suggest to follow them, for the colossus looks large enough to reach this level.”  
Mono nodded firmly and started up the pile. The god moved to help her, but she didn’t need it; she grabbed the broken lip of stone and hauled herself up, grunting. Monolith stepped back and let her on her way, knowing better than to interfere.  
 _She’s gotten stronger since being here. Probably all the heavenly fruit._  
Once up, she could use staircases to get to the top, and she would have quite the view. Monolith, satisfied that the mortal would be safe, walked towards the corpse, sword still in hand. She knelt next to the mound, placing her free hand on it. With a rumble, the colossus came to life, dirt showering from its back as its arms lifted, hands planting into the ground with earth-shaking force.  
Monolith ran back from the beast; she had been standing next to its knee. The vast, stone-bound leg moved, colossus propping itself up on one knee. It was searching, she realized, most likely for its weapon. Indeed it was; vast, leathery fingers found the hilt of the cleaver and latched on. The beast lifted the weapon like it was a feather and stood, seeming like its head would scrape the sky.  
But not quite. Monolith could see that it was still shorter than the bridges that had once spanned the Fortress interior and felt a spark of pride. Unfinished or not, the Fortress was still vast and impressive, bigger than even this behemoth.  
The colossus had noticed her and was turning to face her. It stood on heavy stone hooves below heavily-armored legs, and each step it took made the ground shake. The ring of stone around its waist looked wide enough for a human to stand on…  
Monolith was off running towards the beast, tossing her sword aside. It spun through the air and vanished before it even hit the ground, willed out of existence. The colossus stopped moving when it saw she was coming to it, as she had hoped. She extended her wings and leapt into the air. With the great strength she could muster, she beat her wings to give herself as much lift as possible. She rose beyond the length of her leap and her hands wrapped around the scalloped top of the colossus’ armored knee.  
The beast didn’t really act like it noticed her at first. She had enough time to get her footing and prepare for her next jump before the colossus bellowed angrily, lifting its foot from the ground to try and shake her off. It just made her jump easier, and she took the shot. Leaping upwards, she grabbed hold of the stone around the colossus’ waist. It indeed was wide enough to stand on, and she pulled herself upwards with relief. This was a better place to be than on the ground.  
 _Now where?_ Stone-lined ribs overhung her head. She inched around the back of the beast, holding tight against its irritable shaking. It looked like she could climb it from here.  
With a grunt, she jumped straight up and grabbed hold of the colossus’ grey fur. Now in full contact with the beast, she could feel where the weak links in its magic were. There were three, and one spot at which special forces controlled the beast’s hand so it could hold its weapon. The closest point was on the top of its head. She was already past halfway there, so all she had to do was climb a little further.  
The beast’s movements and behaviors were so like what had some before. It shook predictably and slowly, and while it could have dislodged a human, Monolith held on with strength many times what a mortal could muster. She was immovable.  
On top of the colossus’ head, the view of the Fortress was breathtaking. Well, it would have been breathtaking if the beast would stand still, but that would never be the case. Monolith summoned her sword and stabbed it through the colossus’ skull, rewarded as always with a bellow and a stream of grey blood. The magic seal broke, leaving two. One on the beast’s chest, and another on its hand.  
 _Kind of an ingenious placement._ While the beast held its weapon, the point on its hand would be nearly unreachable. These creatures really were meant to be invincible to the mortal man. But if one was equipped with the right tools…  
She swung herself down onto the colossus’ hairy chest. It bellowed, shaking its stocky neck. She drove her sword into the off-center weak spot while clinging to the beast’s sternum. The colossus bellowed, free hand moving up as if to grab her. She jumped away in surprise, scrambling up the beast’s shoulder. That was a new behavior; none of the other beasts had tried to pluck her off themselves. Charming magic to do such delicate, complex things like moving the fingers of an automaton was a difficult task indeed.  
She crept down the beast’s arm, watching its other hand carefully. It swung with the rhythm of its heavy steps, each of which rattled the ruins. She slid her sword into its bicep, severing the magical tendons that controlled its weapon hand. Its fingers sprang open and the giant, stone cleaver fell to the ground with a crash. Bellowing, the beast’s other hand clamped down on its injury. Prepared this time, Monolith neatly slid under its hand and down its arm. Her sharp claws caught on the ring of stone around its wrist, stopping her fall. She swung herself into the vast palm, latching on with hand and foot, hanging almost upside-down. The colossus grumbled angrily, lifting its hand to shake. It never got the chance.  
Her blade pierced through the beast’s palm and exited the back of its hand. With a gurgling roar, the colossus stumbled to a halt, body becoming stiff. It tipped like a falling tree, arms trailing limply behind it. Monolith jumped from its hand and rolled across the ground, wings tucked back and blade held out to her side. The last few particles of grey fluid vanished from its gleaming surface.  
Souls spiraled colorfully behind her. Her own fragment settled across her shoulders before vanishing through her skin. Warmth once again filled her chest, renewing the energy in her muscles. Weight settled on her as stone armor formed around her hips and waist, connecting with the scalloped plates that covered her back. Her armor felt strong and sure; she had every piece of it, save for her chest. The most important piece, the one that protected the heart of her soul.  
Well, one could argue a helmet was more important. But Monolith could never recall wearing a helmet; her skull was tough enough.  
She flexed her hands. She felt so strong, so sure. But she was still not complete; she was still mortal. There was but one piece of her left, the most important one.  
 _We’re so close._ Not only her’s, but Seln’s soul as well. With the heart of her soul returned, she would also be complete.  
“Can you fly yet?” Mono yelled from the top of the Fortress ruins.  
“No!” Monolith replied, slightly annoyed. “As I said before, I need the heart of my soul to do that!”  
“Seems kind of inconvenient that one piece of your soul holds the key to all your important powers!” the woman yelled back.  
“I didn’t invent the system!” Monolith snorted, rolling her eyes. “And I still have some of my important powers! What do you think the lightning is?”  
Seln’s soul jittered angrily. “Oh, ok, it’s your power, not mine,” Monolith grumbled.  
“What I’m trying to say is, I need help getting down from here!” Mono yelled. “I enjoyed watching your fight, but I think the height is getting to me!”  
“Hold on,” Monolith grumbled, and walked over to the wall. She hopped up onto the decorative panels, grabbed the ledge above her, and pulled herself onto the first level. In similar fashion, she climbed the rest of the Fortress until she came to the top. Mono was sitting in the center of the wall, well away from the edges.  
“I did not really think about how high this building is,” she said. “Not that I am particularly afraid of heights, but your beast did shake these walls quite a bit. I feared they could collapse, and that feeling has ruined my usual mentality towards heights.”  
“Fair enough, my lady,” Monolith replied. “I am available to be your transport.”  
“That is greatly appreciated,” the woman replied, standing. Monolith knelt so she could climb onto her back, just like she had done to cross the flooded tunnels. Minding the woman, she carefully descended the ruins. Once they reached the bottom, she knelt again to let her off. Mono stepped away from her and brushed off her dress, frowning.  
“You’re dusty,” she commented.  
“You’re welcome,” Monolith grunted in reply, turning away. “I could have jumped from the top, you know. Would have been quite a ride down.”  
“I never would have forgiven you,” the woman replied, brushing brown fur off her sleeve.  
“I thought as much,” the god said. The strange infant babbled and waved its hands, almost as if agreeing.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


	19. The Last of the Guardians Pt. 2

The Last of the Guardians Pt. 2

They had to travel quite a distance to get to their final destination, so much so Monolith began to wonder if she was chasing a moving object. Judging by her calculations, their journey was taking them from one corner of the Forbidden Lands to another.   
Except they weren’t really heading for a corner. They were coming upon the coastline, where a mesa rose like a fortress wall. The mesa contained the southernmost tip of the Forbidden Lands, and the location of another great structure she had recently remembered, the Watchtower.  
Once again, the gods had fabulous names for everything.  
Her memory was so close to intact. She remembered the Watchtower’s soaring heights and what it was like to fly above it, marveling at the magic and strength it radiated. The Tower Guard watched the southern seas day and night, defending the Forbidden Lands from the people who lived beyond the ocean.  
Yes, there were people beyond the ocean. She could only remember them faintly, a sight from afar, but they were different from the people of this land. They had darker skin, and often sported intricate tattoos. Their dress was different as well, suggesting the climate they inhabited was warmer than this one. In times of peace, they crossed the ocean to trade, but never remained for long. And they had no interest in worshipping the gods like their northern counterparts did.  
Dormin had always hated that about them. He called them thieves, liars, and worthless. He claimed they would invade the north one day and raze their civilization to the ground. He convinced the gods to build the Watchtower, and sowed distrust amongst the people of the north. Eventually, the southern trading ships stopped showing up, and those people were nothing but distant memories.  
Evidently, the Watchtower had never seen a naval battle. The only true war it had witnessed was the war of the gods. Dormin had seized the Watchtower, his creation, and turned it from facing the sea to facing the land…  
Monolith skidded to a halt so fast Agro almost crashed into her. Mono yanked the horse to the right, cursing. The mare skittered away nervously, tossing her head.  
“What was that about?” the woman demanded, calming her mount. “I almost ran you over!”  
“The sixteenth colossus is the Watchtower,” Monolith replied, eyes fixed on the rising cliffs. She could see something Mono yet couldn’t: a massive pair of stone doors, opening into the mesa. Upon them were many symbols, but in the center of each was a half-circle. When closed, the circle was completed and the place would be sealed off until someone with a key came and opened it again.  
“The what?” Mono asked. “Watchtower?”  
“Another structure built by the gods,” Monolith explained, starting to jog again. Mono urged Agro after her, and soon they were back up to speed.  
“Those doors are the only way into the heart of the mesa from the land,” she yelled over her shoulder.  
“I see them!” Mono confirmed, squinting. “What of it?”  
“The gods build a watchtower - the Watchtower - inside there to guard the land against the sea. The structure doesn’t look all that strange from a distance, but at its heart is an automaton. Even without guards to protect it, the tower could defend itself. The automaton could only be shut down by a switch on its back. When Dormin started the war, he turned the Watchtower against us.” She exhaled slowly, marveling over her own revelation. “And when the humans split Dormin’s soul into sixteen pieces, they trapped his heart inside a structure that should have been impenetrable. The Watchtower was the original colossus!”  
“So what you are saying is that this beast was built by the gods and not by the humans, and will therefore be that much harder?” Mono yelled back.  
Monolith winced. “I guess so, my lady. But I am at my strongest now. I will have no better chance!”  
The double doors were looming over them now. Monolith shivered as they entered the shadow of the mesa; it was unsettling, seeing the doors stuck open like this. Dormin had locked them tight, disabling the ability of other gods to open them. The Watchtower pounded the land mercilessly, lobbing explosive charges almost halfway to the Shrine. Approach by land or sea was treacherous, and with the Higher Lands under Dormin’s control, approach from the sky was nigh impossible. But if they wanted any hope of defending themselves against him, they had to wrest the Watchtower away from him. His armies of cronies and monsters camped within the range of the Watchtower, and from there they made their attacks. They had a safe place to retreat to, while the other gods did not.  
They had to take the Watchtower, no matter the cost. Monolith led the assault from the sea, gods sliding by unseen under the waves. The humans led the charge from the land, accompanied by those entities who were not fond of swimming. And once again, the humans had proved their worth, cracking Dormin’s defenses. He had removed the gods’ abilities to open the great doors, but he had forgotten about the god-forged weapons the humans held…  
Monolith hadn’t seen it herself, but had heard of the great deed after the fact. The humans’ weapons had cast their light upon the door, and they had burned away the magic locking it. The doors swung open, and their armies flooded into the mesa. Distracted from the land, the Watchtower was vulnerable from the sea, and Monolith’s army surged forth, scaling the cliffs. They rushed the Watchtower in a fury and retook it from Dormin’s minions. It was the first great loss the evil being had suffered, and it marked the turning point of the war.  
 _We had to deactivate the Watchtower. As the war drew on and the gods dwindled away, it became harder and harder to hold the place. We deactivated it in a way that Dormin could not reverse._  
She hesitated. Dormin had been unable to reactivate the Watchtower; could the humans really have done it, creating the sixteenth colossus?  
She shook her head, reprimanding herself. Of course they could have done it, because they were humans. And humans were capable of things beyond understanding.  
The space within the mesa widened a little, revealing stone brick paths around another small Shrine. The path rose in a lazy ramp around the building, exterior unworn by wind. Inside the mesa, everything was quiet and still.  
Monolith stopped, resting her hand against the Shrine’s inscribed tablet. She felt heavy, as if she was once again weak and feeble, stripped of all her powers.  
 _But I’m not._ Her eyes hardened, staring past the words carved before her and into something beyond. Strength flowed through her limbs. Lifting her head, she faced the rising path.  
The ramp sloped upwards and into a stone-lined pass. The mesa formed natural walls around them, towering impossibly high. She could hear the wind now, howling like a trapped beast.  
Agro suddenly reared, screaming. Mono cursed, yanking on the reins. The horse skittered backwards, eyes rolling in terror. The infant on Mono’s back started crying hysterically.  
“Oh, for goodness’ sakes!” the woman cried, backing Agro up and dismounting. She took the infant off her back as it continued to wail, arms flailing.  
Monolith stood at the end of the path, frowning into the very deep ravine. “There was once a bridge here.”  
“How convenient!” Mono grumbled. Agro had calmed down, but refused to take a single step closer to the ravine. The infant continued to cry, just at a lower volume.  
“I think I can cross it,” Monolith said. “And, well, the fall won’t kill me if I don’t.”  
“And how do you know that?” Mono demanded. “It looks pretty deep to me!”  
“It didn’t kill her,” the god replied, pointing at Agro.  
“Agro?” Mono asked. “Are you saying she fell down this ravine?”  
“Why else would she be so afraid of it, when she faced colossi without flinching?” the god asked. “She reeks of fear. I have never seen her like this before.”  
“Even if she jumped, she would never make it across that ravine,” the woman said dubiously. “Please don’t tell me my idiot rescuer tried to jump this!”  
“I don’t think he did,” Monolith replied, kneeling and peering into the depths of the ravine. “Unless my eyes are deceiving me, I can spot the broken bridge down there. Your rescuer must have ridden across, but Agro’s weight disturbed the structure and caused it to collapse.”  
“Are you sure this is what injured her?” Mono asked. “It looks way too deep to be survivable to me.”  
“This ravine isn’t as deep as it looks,” the god replied. “It’s a bit of an optical illusion.” She stood, backing away from the edge. “This is the best way through for me. Without my ability to fly, I would have to scale the oceanside cliffs, and swimming to those cliffs is treacherous. The water is cold and violent, and the waves will dash you against the rocks. Believe it or not, a fall from there is more likely to be fatal than a fall from here.”  
“Whatever you say,” Mono muttered, backing away from the edge. “You’re the god.”  
“I would offer to take you with me, but I need to be light as possible to cross this ravine,” Monolith told her, backing away as well. “You will have to stay here.”  
“Not a problem,” Mono said. “I wouldn’t cross that ravine on your back even if you promised me all the gold in the world.”  
“You will be safe from the Watchtower in here,” the god promised. “It cannot fire upon these rooms, for they are too close to it. Not that it would target you, while it is dealing with me. Watch the skies, for you may see some fascinating sights.”  
“Godspeed, Monolith,” Mono wished, still cradling the infant in her arms. It babbled, waving one hand. Monolith nodded a curt thank-you to the woman before fixing her eyes on the path.  
She was as far back as she could go, getting a heavy running start. She hoped it would be enough, it had to be enough.  
She could not hesitate. If she did, she wouldn’t make it. She had to throw everything she had out over that ravine.  
With a roar, she charged. Her feet thundered against the ground, stone sandals striking the flagstones. The ravine zoomed towards her, cliffs falling away from her sides. And suddenly, the ground was gone, and she was out on the open air. Her wings spread wide beyond her sides, straining to catch every bit of the wind they could. Her hands were reaching, claws bared, for the cliffs on the other side…  
She slammed into the cliff, nearly knocking the air out of herself. Her claws latched on to the ground beyond her in a death grip, wings beating frantically. Her hind feet scrabbled against the cliff face, but within the same heartbeat she found purchase and hauled herself up, muscles bulging.  
She slithered away from the ravine, taking a moment to breath before standing back up. She had just barely made the jump. Very little stood in her way now.  
Mono was on the other side, hands covering her mouth. When she finally realized the god had made the crossing, she dropped her terrified expression for something more joyful. She waved jubilantly.  
“Go! Go!” she cried. Monolith felt a grin cross her face and nodded before turning to sprint away.  
She still had a ways to go, especially since it seemed like a lot of the Watchtower’s base structure had been damaged or destroyed. No stairs or ramps...nothing could be easy.  
The outer rim of the Watchtower’s base was looming overhead. She could hear the wind howling beyond it; it was always very windy on this part of the coast, and sometimes very rainy too. The Watchtower itself had been enchanted to have some control over the local (very local) weather, another weapon in its arsenal. Unfortunately for Dormin, even he couldn’t get the place to summon much more than a heavy rainstorm, and the rain proved great cover for Monolith’s forces advancing from the sea.  
She was standing between two carved piers now, back to the ravine. Most of what was in front of her was sheer cliff face, with remains of structures jutting out here and there. Crumbled blocks dotted the inhospitable surface, but as she gazed upon them, a route formed in her mind, clear as day.  
 _The access tunnels had an opening on the right side of this section of the base. I bet it’s still there._  
She jogged to the wall and jumped upwards, clearing four ridges of decorative stone to land above, where a path wrapped around the base. Once, ramps would have led to this path, but not a single one had survived the test of time. To her right was once a staircase, but the stone block it was carved from had fallen sideways, a stairway to nowhere. She jumped onto the sideways stair, then up onto the block it had once connected to. The crumbling walkway continued upwards, whole in some places and in others broken. She scaled upwards, no obstacle too high, until she reached what appeared to be a dead end. The path had switched back at this place; there had once been a grand, spiraling staircase here, but if Monolith remembered correctly, her forces had blasted it to smithereens as part of their attempt to keep Dormin’s monsters out of the Watchtower. Now, instead of a staircase, there was a moss-and-ivy-covered cliff.  
 _Well, I guess that works too._ She knew how deep and strong those plants rooted into the rocks. They were as good as any ladder, and she wasn’t disappointed as she began her ascent. Not a single root was pulled out of place by her considerable weight. She wasn’t that chunky, now was she?  
 _Well, I do have most of my body mass back. No more looking like an emaciated bear for me!_  
She reached the next level of the walkway and dropped off the ivy. _No doubt Mono would have made a snide comment about my weight._ She felt a pang of worry for the woman, alone at the bottom of the cliff, unable to see what was going on. If the fight dragged on, what would she begin to think? How long would she wait before deciding it was no longer worth it?  
Better to not dwell on such things. Monolith hopped up more of the crumbled path, careful not to stray too close to the edge. Bits and pieces were missing, and it wouldn’t be too difficult to send another group of cobblestones flinging downwards. It wouldn’t be pleasant to be included in an event like that.  
But that would not be the case; Monolith made it safely to the next level of walkways, where the stone path widened. She followed it as it curved around the cliff, and sure enough, the square access tunnel opened up to her right. The stone inside the tunnel, safe from wind and rain, was fresher, and a torch spluttered at the end of the hall, just as it had the last time she had been in here. It was almost...ethereal.  
She followed the tunnel to the left and up a set of stairs. It curved left and up again, and then right, she knew. If she followed the tunnel as it was, she would emerge over a sheer drop, the tunnel opening up within the outer rim of the Watchtower’s base. That opening faced north, where the only access by land was. Defenders of the tower could fire on intruders from that opening, since by that point they would be way too close for the tower to hit them. She could possibly wrangle a way up through there, but if the magic of the tunnel system was still working, she knew a better way.  
She placed her hand on the text-covered plaque opposite the torch that spluttered on the wall. The plaque felt warm.  
 _Perfect._ She narrowed her mind, and swept her fingers across the letters. Like fish following bait, the letters she touched followed her fingers. The text was currently gibberish, but out of the mess she formed a word, the password.  
Light began to glow around the edge of the plaque, warm, gold light. It retracted into the wall as the secret door swung open, revealing another tunnel.  
 _Success! Dormin’s cronies never reset the password after we abandoned this place._ Why reset a password to a useless building?  
She walked into the tunnel and the door slid shut behind her. Torches still burned in the walls, providing good light. She almost expected to see another god run around a corner, carrying whatever message to the command room of the Watchtower. But, of course, nobody came.  
There were a few intersections, but she knew where she was going. Eventually, she reached another wall with another plaque. Each plaque in this place had a different password; good thing gods had impeccable memories.  
She spelled the password and the wall parted in front of her. She emerged into another tunnel to find that the roof had been blasted off of it, revealing the grey sky. The wall slid shut behind her, the door so well-hidden it would never be noticed.  
The only way in and out of the Watchtower had been through these tunnels, guarded by the password-locked doors. There was a service tunnel that led directly to the automaton’s feet, but its access point was within the first wall of the Watchtower.  
She looked up. _Wait a moment…_  
The Watchtower’s walls were gone. There had been two, encircling the automaton as high as its waist in solid stone, then iron-rodded pillars connecting the bottom to the top, where the command center was above the automaton’s head. The tower shot its magic between the pillars, and the pillars guarded it like a cage. Between the two walls had been the rest of the building, where the guards lived and stored their supplies. From here, she should have seen the outer wall, rising high. The sky was empty.  
She hopped up from the exposed tunnel, eyes widening with shock. Both walls were gone, nothing left of them. All that remained of the exterior structure was a few squares of stone, weathered and worn so much so their past use was impossible to glean.  
But the automaton was still there. It was slouched backwards like a broken toy, many parts of its skirt missing or broken. For a moment, Monolith couldn’t believe this was the final colossus. But it was; the heart of her soul was calling from within.  
She walked towards it, spellbound. It was as she remembered, feet planted on a raised dais, legs covered by a stone and iron skirt. Long arms dangled limply behind it, once the throwers of magical fire. The whole thing, when it had been working in good shape, had been a beautiful creation.  
In its demise, it looked as if the beast had slouched a little too much for the health of its stone skirt. Strips of the armor looked loose and ready to fall, buckling under the colossus’ weight. The edge of the skirt was touching the ground in most places, not at all how it had been before.  
Monolith circled the beast cautiously. Instinct told her she should try to climb to the switch on the beast’s back and see if she could kill it through there, but with the way it had slouched, it seemed impossible to climb to that point. She would just have to get as close as she could before waking it up.  
 _Note: don’t wake it up while on any of those strips that look loose._ It would be quite a setback to climb that far, only to fall when the colossus stood back up and shook the broken pieces off of itself.  
She was close enough to touch the beast now. It loomed above her like a specter, looking almost like it was about to tip over. Hopefully, that wouldn’t be the case...but Dormin had uprooted the automaton’s feet once to turn it around. It wouldn’t be impossible for it to happen again.  
There was only one was to go: up.  
Monolith jumped onto the lip of stone around the base of the beast’s skirt. It had been designed to be climbable, after all, so those without flight powers could reach the off switch. She jumped to the next lip up. One did have to be in very good shape to climb the beast, though. It was not something designed with humans in mind.  
She wanted to edge to the back of the beast, but that was where everything got...scrunched. She was forced to follow the path to the front of the skirt, where she could jump to a slightly higher lip of stone. From there, she climbed up another level, reaching a wider lip of stone edged on the inside by an iron-wrought fence. Everything was tilted and skewed with how the beast was slouched, and the next climbable piece of skirt was beyond the reach of her hands. But, it was nothing a quick hop couldn’t fix.  
Monolith pulled herself onto a narrow ledge, taking a moment to rest and consider her next move. The curvature of the beast got worse the higher she climbed, and she could feel the instability of the stone beneath her feet. The whistling wind made everything shake, and some of the sections of skirt seemed to be on the razor’s edge of falling away.  
She glanced up. Because of how the beast had slouched, she could continue climbing up its front, or could jump to another platform and walk around to its side. She was getting close to where the skirt started to narrow, ending at the automaton’s waist. It was where the off switch was.  
Ultimately, it seemed the better idea to to move around to the side. The front panel of the automaton’s skirt was hanging loose, swaying in the wind. It wasn’t stable at all, and even though the side panels were bowed out, at least they were still connected to their neighbors.  
The one problem was, at this height, the colossus’ limp arm was now blocking the path. She couldn’t travel any farther back without climbing over the thing, and it was also blocking the way to climb up. Unless...she could climb up the arm?  
Now, that was an idea. She glanced up the length of the beast’s arm. This part of it hadn’t been designed to be climbable. And, while it would get her higher up, there was no clear path from its arm to its back. Best just to go over, even though the situation on the other side was a little cramped.  
She reached up and grabbed onto the beast’s arm. Pulling herself up, she slid over the obstacle and down the other side, wriggling her way back onto the tilted, cramped platform. She clung tightly to the stone in front of her, shifting her weight experimentally.  
 _Feels pretty secure._ She couldn’t make any more headway, not with the beast bent over backwards like this. She only had one choice: to wake the thing up.  
 _I hope the humans were not able to power the automaton’s casters fully. If this beast starts lobbing fireballs as far as it used to, we may have a problem._  
Knowing a shorter range would give the beast better defense of itself, the humans hopefully redesigned the automaton’s magic casters. Monolith wouldn’t have to worry about them, already on the flank of the beast, but there was plenty left that it could destroy. Mostly old ruins, but Monolith liked to imagine they still had some sentimental value.  
She shut her eyes and called to the souls within the beast. Like wildfire, they spread their energies through its veins and the automaton clanked to life with the screech of shearing metal.  
Monolith pressed herself against the stone in front of her as bits of iron bar flew past her head. The colossus was slowly standing up, broken pieces falling off its flanks. Miraculously, no entire sections of skirt were completely dislodged, though many of them swung free from their neighbors in manners not expected.  
The massive arm she had just crawled over lifted from its resting place. Sparking, blinding light filled the cuff around its bicep in two bands. Monolith instinctively shrank from the magic, recognizing its potent power.  
 _The anti-invader cuffs still work! Well, two of them._ She was both disappointed and relieved to see that the cuffs on the beast’s left wrist and right bicep were dark. When active, the cuffs created electrified, impassable barriers that blasted away all that touched them. The automaton could use them to swipe intruders off or away from itself.  
 _That could make things tricky._ Monolith had no idea if the human magic currently running the automaton could do all the things the godly magic once had done, or if the human magic created the same behaviors in the beast. Either way, she’d have to be very careful.  
Currently, the colossus didn’t really seem to notice her. It was busier checking out its own hands, in fact, turning them over to see both sides and examining all its fingers. It was the most benign and innocent action she’d seen a colossus do so far, and it hit her in the chest like an emotional brick.  
 _This is the Watchtower; this is something I used to interact with! And now I have to kill it._  
She hadn’t been the one to shut the Watchtower down when they abandoned it to Dormin’s cronies. It had been somber just the same, for losing the Watchtower was more than just that.  
She uncurled a little and hopped up the stone face in front of her, which was decorated with an intricate sigl. Clinging to the stone, she launched herself upwards again and onto the next level of the skirt. The section she was on swayed side to side somewhat excessively; every few moments she could hear pieces of the skirt scraping against each other. The last defeat of the beast had really done a number on the soundness of its structure.  
She felt another pang in her chest. To see this great creation, along with all the other creations of the gods, reduced to such scrap, made her sorrowful. Just as the gods themselves had been reduced to nothing, pummeling each other into oblivion…  
She hauled herself up two more levels, feeling anger and sadness twisting in her chest. She walked around to the back of the beast and looked up to where the stone skirt ended, just below the next piece of the beast’s armor. A strip of its furred back was exposed to the air.  
 _As I should have expected, the panel is gone._ The humans removed the off switch. That would have made things too easy; the off switch had never required a password like the tunnels did. It was for emergencies, and there were plenty of possible situations where someone without security clearance might have to shut the Watchtower off. Plus, the Watchtower used to know friend from foe, and would knock any of the latter off itself. Though, most emergency situations involved a case of the Watchtower going berserk, in which everyone became the foe.  
 _Just as it is now._ Monolith hauled herself onto the top of the beast’s skirt, listening to the grind of stone as the monster moved above her. Its torso twisted as it slowly looked back and forth, scanning.  
 _It’s in lookout mode. It doesn’t even know I’m here._ She felt yet another pang; the automaton, in the past, had full feeling in its skirt, and could sense where everyone was around it. Under human magic, its abilities had been yet again reduced. But perhaps she needed to be thankful for that; trying to take on the full-powered Watchtower by herself would have been nearly impossible.  
She came to a stop before the furred back, eyes scanning every detail. The panel was gone, but as she rested her hand against the surface, she could feel the great knot of magic that yet remained. There was one here, one on each hand, one on each shoulder, and one atop its head. The hands and shoulders seemed connected to the defensive cuffs, since the two spots next to the inactive cuffs were dark and lifeless.  
 _It can only be cracked open from the hardest to reach point: its head.  
How to get there..._the automaton hadn’t been designed to be climbable above this point. The lower edge of its torso armor was above her head, though not out of her reach. She could try to climb up that way, but the stone armor was purposely lacking in good handholds. Going around the front wouldn’t be much easier since the armor across its chest formed an overhang; plus, she was worried the beast would spot her if she went out there.  
 _I’ll take the back over the front. We’ll see what happens, I guess…_  
She reached her hands up, grabbing the lower edge of the armor above her. There was barely anything to hold on to beyond it.  
 _Hmmm..._ She lifted her wings and spread them out to her sides. Angling them downwards, she felt the wind that always whistled around the mesa begin to gather under them, their natural shape creating lift. The sky was starting to get dark, she noticed, and as she looked to the clouds, the first drops of rain began to fall.  
 _The colossus is summoning rain to foul my attempt!_ She could sense the magic connecting it to the sky. Before long, the stone would become water-soaked and slippery. She had to move fast.  
Gathering her legs beneath her, she let energy build in her limbs. With a snarl, she sprang upwards, legs pushing and arms pulling at the ledge above her. She beat her wings down, gathering all the lift she could. Bringing her arms around at the peak of her leap, she slammed her claws against the living stone, seeking purchase. Above her, the colossus’ armor widened in two strips, equalling two small overhangs. And beyond that, her goal, the base of the beast’s shoulder, where armor gave way to fur, maybe thirty-five feet beyond where she started from.  
Her claws broke into the stone, all of its toughening magic straining against her own earthly powers. She was a god of earth and water, and to her these elements obeyed. Her weight pulled her down, leaving scratches in the stone, but with all hands and feet braced, she found purchase. She heard the colossus rumble; undoubtedly, it had felt that. Stone scraped and moved as it began to bring one arm around, hand feeling for the intruder on its back.  
 _Aye!_ Monolith pulled herself up, arms curling. She brought up her feet, digging them in with bent knees. As she did, she felt her hands slip just a little, scratches extending. Without all four limbs braced, she slowly and surely lost progress. She slid one hand up, digging her claws into the stone just beneath the first lip. With a grunt, she pulled herself up, other hand reaching above the lip to grab on. The decorative swirls in the stone were ground away beneath her claws as they dug in, her weight pulling them down and inwards. She pressed herself flat as the colossus’ hand swept by, fingers waving. It seemed to locate the position of its intruder and stopped above her. Not wanting to see what it would do next, Monolith quickly extended her legs and pulled herself upwards, body sliding over the first overhang of stone. Her own stone armor grated against the edge, slowing her down considerably. Her knees caught against the lip and she was pulled to a jarring stop, hands dug in but feet loose. She started to slide but quickly dug in her toes. Just below her feet, the colossus’ fingers swept across its back, a motion that would fling off even the clingiest climber.  
Too close. She grunted, pulling herself up with her arms so she could get her feet over the lip of stone. She braced, taking a breath, and looked over her shoulder. The colossus’ giant hand was coming towards her, fingers waving. She snarled, twisting on her perch to free one of her hands. Her sword appeared in her fist and she batted the fingers away, the screech of metal on stone audible over the howl of the wind. The sudden movement dislodged her grip and she felt herself teetering towards a fall. Twisting back, she stabbed her blade into the stone above her. It sunk in a few inches, enough to be solid. The colossus roared in pain, jerking. With a screech of metal and stone, one of the plates of its skirt broke away and fell to the ground.  
One hand on the hilt, she pulled herself upwards. She grasped the blade with her other hand, careful not to cut herself on the sharp edge. She pulled herself up, moving her feet in small steps. Once she got her feet under herself again, she checked over her shoulder. The colossus’ hand was still trying to find her, but she seemed to be just above the upper limit of its flexibility. Thank goodness, because every time that hand came near, the powerful magic radiating from its wrist made her fur stand on end.  
She let go of her sword and left it where it was. Hand over hand, she approached the next overhang. Once high enough, she placed one foot on the flat of her blade, giving the rest of her limbs a quick rest. Once ready, she brought her feet beneath her and curled her body in a crouch. With explosive power, she rocketed upwards, wings sweeping down. Her hands shot past the edge of stone and latched on above it, claws grinding her descend to a halt. She dug her feet in just below the overhang. There, she hung for a moment, wind beating against her as if trying to tear her from the beast. Rain was beginning to run down its back in rivulets.   
She curled her arms, muscles bulging under fur and armor. Her right hand slipped and lost hold; her other hand was dragged downwards, a deep furrow forming under her claws. Pain shot up her arm, almost making her lose her grip entirely.  
 _Argh!_ She grabbed hold again and pulled herself over the lip, feet kicking. Once above, she summoned her sword to her left hand and drove it into the stone next to her knees. With a strong tug, she pulled herself up so she could rest her feet on the flat of the blade. Crouching, she gripped the stone with her right hand and examined the damage to her left. She’d torn out the claw on her ring finger, blood beating from the wound. It looked a lot worse than it was; claws always bled heavily. Her entire finger was coated with blood, even with the rain constantly washing it off.  
“What a bother,” she muttered, and called up the healer’s soul to fix the small wound. It was trivial, but having the injury would only weaken her climbing grip. Once it was healed, she continued on. She was so close.  
One hand touched fur instead of stone, and her aching fingers dug into it with relief. Quickly pulling herself up, she left behind the terrible, smooth stone, a smear of her blood still visible in one of the furrows. On fur, she climbed with ease, and once atop the beast’s shoulder, the view took her breath away.  
She could see everything from here. Out over the top of the mesa, she could see the Shrine in the far distance. She could see the lush, young forest she had practiced archery within. She could see another mesa to the northeast, within it the sunken arena in which she had destroyed a colossus with lightning. She could see the great plateau in which ancient burial grounds hid, where she had fought an equine beast. She could see thirteen beams of light, two less because two of the colossi were no more. And she could see the vast desert, the beam of light within it pointing to the beast she regretted killing.  
She looked to her right, to the head of her last colossus, staring to the beyond in the same way she had. She would regret killing this one too.  
 _But it is the only way. There is no other, and all beings of magic will know that. And if Dormin should still be alive, whole but bodiless, I cannot stop him unless I too am whole. My emotions are aside._  
She summoned her sword to her hand and walked up the beast’s shoulder. Now that she was here, it barely seemed to care of her, eyes watching the distant horizon. She strode to the base of its neck, eyes fixed upon the bare spot of fur at the top of its head. It only had one weak point.  
Her feet stopped above the spot, magic pulsing with life just below them. She dared not lift her eyes from her feet, lest she see the sun shining on the horizon. She was so high, she felt like the steps of the Higher Lands were just above her head, the partial souls of freed gods just beyond them, hungering for her to release their hearts.  
 _When I do this, the gods will return. I will no longer be alone._  
She lifted her sword above her head, point down. Both her hands were tight around the hilt.  
With a cry, she drove her blade down. It pierced through fur and living stone, and into the magic beneath. The colossus bellowed, head pitching forwards. One of its massive hands came up, encountering its face with a resounding crash, splinters of stone flying everywhere. Monolith kept hold of her hilt as she was jerked forwards, then back, and as she fell, she ripped the blade free. Color burst forth from the wound, blazing brightness that shred through the rain and gloom. As fast as it gathered, the rain was dissipating, the grey-bright gleam of the sky showing through.  
She landed on her back at the base of the beast’s neck. It was leaning back, and she rolled towards empty space as everything around her tilted. She grabbed hold with both hands, feet dangling into nothingness off the beast’s back. She felt the whole colossus buckle, legs giving out. Another skirt plate came loose, snapping under the weight of the buckling beast. Then another, and another, with sounds like shearing metal.  
 _Move!_ Monolith pulled herself back to solid ground, scrambling for the beast’s shoulder. It was tipping back, falling, falling, its feet pulling up from the very stone it was fixed to, cracks running through the entire base around it. With a sound like thunder, the earth above the maintenance tunnel split open, and an entire chunk of ground broke away, the colossus pulling it towards the raging seas below.  
Monolith was tossed from her feet and bounced down the colossus’ chest, rolling to a stop against one of the ridges in its armor. The grey-frothy sea below her came tilting into view. She scrambled to the end of the colossus’ chestplate and, with few other options left, leapt for whatever solid ground was left.  
She seemed to hang in the air for a moment, the beast falling away below her. It hit the sea with a mighty crash, spray flying high into the sky.  
Silvery light gathered in her vision. Suddenly, her entire being was aglow with energy. Wind gathered itself beneath her wings and she was no longer falling, but flying, soaring through the sky with a trail of silver, pink, gold, and green streaming after her. It was the heart of her soul, and not just her’s, but Seln’s, her friend’s, and the healer’s. Stone was crisscrossing her chest, forming the last and most vital piece of her armor. The bands met in the center, and she was complete.  
Her feet touched solid ground and she skidded to a stop, hands out to her sides like a surfer. She was still glowing, silver, pink, gold, and green. The lights radiated beneath her skin, rippling ribbons. Slowly, it faded.  
Everything had returned to her. She had all her memories, her powers, her past. She knew her friend’s name, the healer’s name, her name-  
No. _I am not who I once was._ Her name was Monolith now.  
She roared. She roared so loudly the whole world heard her.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	20. The Truth Pt. 1

The Truth Pt. 1  
Monolith landed in front of Mono, who was clinging tightly to Agro’s reigns, looking almost scared. She started at the god with wide eyes, unmoving.  
“What?” Monolith asked after a moment, looking at herself. “Is there something crawling on me? You’re staring.”  
“Oh, no,” Mono seemed to shake herself from her trance. “You just seem very...radiant.”  
“Yeah, I noticed that too,” Monolith admitted, looking at her hands. “I was glowing a lot more before. I think it will fade over time.”  
“So, you defeated the colossus?” Mono asked.  
Monolith gave her a look. “What do you think?”  
The woman looked away. “That was a stupid question. Sorry.”  
Monolith waved a dismissive hand. “No matter. Come; we should head back to the comfort of the Shrine. The colossus has been pitched into the sea, dead once more.”  
The woman followed her orders almost like a ghost, pulling herself onto Agro’s back with a distant and pale expression. The mare seemed unbothered, dutifully trotting after Monolith with a contented snort. She pulled up next to the god, lifting her head to look at her face. Monolith had to look down a little to meet her eye. The mare gave a little whinny, smelling of joy.  
“She is very happy to see this quest come to its conclusion,” Monolith noted, smiling a little at the horse. “I would bet she hopes never to see those beasts again!”  
“Yeah,” Mono agreed quietly. There was a pause, then the woman asked, “So you remember everything now?”  
They passed through the great, still gates of the mesa, the rolling plains sprawling out before them. There were fourteen beams of light in the sky, and Monolith understood what they were now: warning beacons for the humans. Signs that a colossus had been slain.  
“I do,” the god said, slitting her eyes as she remembered. “The fragments have come together. But there is still so much to know.”  
“Indeed?” Mono questioned. “You have memory of all Dormin’s crimes, and how they came to be. You have seen how he was defeated and locked away. And now he is gone without a trace.”  
“He is most likely not gone,” Monolith replied, shaking her head. “Hiding, no doubt. Trying to formulate a plan back to power. I remember all his tricks and traps now. I know his ways. I defeated the colossi and reunited myself; he must have been reunited the same, by whoever saved you. Reunited but bodiless, yet I doubt he remained that way for long. He is out there, somewhere, in a hidden form. My best hopes of tracking him down lie not with my own memories, but his.” She pointed to the infant on Mono’s back.  
The woman looked over her shoulder. “Normally, I would protest you bringing a baby into such serious matters as this, but we’re all well aware that this child is not normal. What do you propose?”  
“That child did not get to the Shrine by normal means,” Monolith said. “You didn’t bring him here. Your rescuers would not have brought him either, unless they were madman. Nobody else has visited this place. This baby did not come from a human. It is a product of Dormin’s doing, and most likely the reason behind why you were never actually rescued after your rescuer upheld his part of the promise.”  
“Are you saying Dormin turned my rescuer into this child?” Mono asked, raising an eyebrow.  
“One of your rescuers,” Monolith corrected. “There is evidence of multiple people being in the Shrine. I’m guessing Dormin possessed one of them, causing the others to flee. That would explain why Agro was left behind.”  
“And me?” Mono asked, frowning. “They would have the audacity to just leave me behind too?”  
Monolith shrugged. “They probably panicked at the sight of their friend turning into an evil entity. I’m sure they didn’t mean to leave you behind.”  
“If I ever get out of these lands, whoever left me behind is going to hear about it,” the woman grumbled, face stormy.  
“I could carry you out, but I don’t know if that is a good idea,” Monolith cautioned. “You are the product of a law most sacred that was broken, and many would consider you evil just for that.”  
Mono crossed her arms. “Well, I didn’t ask to be brought back to life.”  
“It is in no way your fault,” Monolith agreed, putting her hands up placatingly. “But some people are not as reasonable as I. You know as well as I do, humans are superstitious.”  
They passed within the shadows of the cliffs, riding into the pass between plateaus. The shadows no longer felt so cold and ominous. The god felt she could dispel them with a wave of her hand if she wished. They were nothing but the absence of light. And she was a provider of light.  
They rode on in silence through the pass, wind whistling above them.  
“How many people did Dormin kill, to steal their souls to bring other bodies back to life?” the woman asked quietly.  
“Too many,” Monolith replied.  
 _More than you think!_ Seln’s soul yelled in her head. The excitable air god’s soul was also complete, the only other one. The soul of her friend and of the healer were still missing pieces, pieces that had escaped the colossi but also escaped Monolith’s reach.  
 _Casper, Casper and Ignatus._ Those were their names.  
 _I remember it all now!_ Seln continued to yell. _Monolith, you do too!_   
“We didn’t see what you saw,” she replied to the voice in her head. “But you came just before the Higher Lands burned, and what you described was a crime of the highest order.”  
 _I can show you now!_ Seln said. _Open your mind to my soul, so you can see it!_   
“In a moment,” she replied. “I can’t read your mind and run at the same time.”  
They emerged from the cliffs into the verdant, young forest, crossing the small stream that ran by another lonesome shrine. Agro’s hooves splashed through the water, a crystalline sound breaking up the monotone of her hoofbeats. When they emerged from the trees, warm sunlight spilled over the grass, illuminating the way back to the Shrine. Agro snorted and pulled her head up, skidding to a stop. Monolith skidded after her, looking up to the blue sky.  
“Excuse me?” Mono said, gesturing at the sun. “I may not be a wizard or a scientist, but something tells me this kind of weather isn’t normal around here.”  
“It is centered around the Shrine, the point of connection between the mortal world and the Higher Lands,” Monolith replied, eyes fixed to the brilliant sky. “The clouds of smoke, fog, and ash are clearing. There are souls up there.”  
“All the hearts of souls you just released are flying around up there?” Mono asked, pointing upwards.  
“They are rejoining with the rest of themselves,” the god replied. “As each one becomes whole again, the magic in this world strengthens. The pall over the Higher Lands will be scattered, and soon the Ascent will be visible.”  
“The staircase to the realm of the gods,” Mono said quietly, in awe. They stood there for a moment longer, staring at the perfect circle of clear, blue sky above the Shrine.  
“Who knows what yet lives up there,” Monolith mused. “The wandering souls will be looking for bodies to inhabit.”  
Mono looked worried. “Do you think they’ll try possessing humans?”  
Monolith shrugged. “Usually there are better bodies, stronger ones, to be possessing than mankind. But if they’re desperate, they may. We will have to stay vigilant.”  
They walked towards the Shrine, beams of sunlight warming the pale stone for the first time in centuries. The light reflected off every crack, crumble, and crevasse in the structure, showing its age in stark reality. It looked old, tired, but yet still grand and proud.  
They ascended the steps, Monolith keeping her eyes on the sky. If she squinted, she imagined she could just barely see the bottom step of the Ascent…  
 _I show you now!_ Seln’s patience had worn out, and she was bouncing around in Monolith’s head like an excited puppy. The god winced, putting a hand to her temple. It had been nice having Seln’s company, but now she was just becoming annoying. She didn’t share body space very well.  
“Seln’s gotta show me something,” she muttered, fighting off a headache. “Seln, we really need to find you your own body.”  
 _In time! In time!_ The spirit yelled. _Listen first!_   
Monolith sat down at the top of the steps, leaning her back against the wall. She shut her eyes and reached out her mind to the air god.  
Immediately, she was sucked up in a whirling storm. Seln was flying, flying through the air on lightning. She was over the ocean, as she often was, since it gave her more room to roam and goof off. She rolled on clouds and jumped from lightning bolt to lightning bolt without a care in the world. But then, she passed over something, and it struck her curiosity. She stopped, and saw a shadow flying through the clouds, flying away. It was large, winged, but not shaped like a bird, nor a dragon. A griffin? Curious, she followed it, and sensed a landmass below her. Descending from the thick cloud bank, the island came into view. It was a large landmass, the other side of it barely visible. Somewhat near the center of the island was a rising volcano, massive and sheer-sided. Seln, however, knew instantly that the volcano was extinct. It had not erupted in ages; not a trace of ash or sulfur in the sky. She flew closer, bringing with her heavy clouds, like an advancing storm front.  
Strange energy radiated from the volcano. She was high above it, too high for human eyes to see any detail, but her eyes were sharp as a hawk’s. There was a city inside the volcano, which was as hollow as a rotten log. And in the center of the city, rising on tall, tall spires, was a great, circular platform. From within it radiated great energy, energy that flowed outwards to the entire city.  
She squinted, circling above. She could see a few shapes below, moving about. One of them was a god she recognized as one of Dormin’s followers. They were standing next to a strange, large creature, something furry and armored. As she watched, the creature approached a pipe sticking out of the platform, stuck its nose inside, and retched. The god nodded their head, seeming satisfied.  
Seln reared back, horrified. The creature has retched up a blue, goopy blob. Inside it was a Southlander child, now gone down the pipe. A surge of fresh energy entered the core.  
Immediately, it began to rain. In her moment of terror and disbelief, Seln had done what she usually did when stressed; let out a torrential downpour. The god on the platform looked up and frowned.  
In a panic, Seln fled, clouds speeding away like horses. She had to get back, she had to tell the others. She had to get to the Shrine before Dormin’s minions caught up with her.  
She galloped back over the trees, heading out to sea. Her mind was on nothing but her escape as she raced across the ocean, wind lashing the waves into a froth. The coastline of the Forbidden Lands appeared in front of her and she thundered across it, crying a warning.  
“Terrible! Terrible!” her voice echoed through the air like a thunderclap. “I have found something terrible!”  
Another god flew up in front of her, hands held up placatingly. “Calm down, Seln!” he barked. “What have you seen?”  
“The Shrine!” Seln yelled in reply. “I must tell everyone at once! Dormin’s minions are surely just on my tail!”  
The god looked to the Watchtower and barked an order. The guards on the tower saluted and ran off to their stations, preparing the automaton for any sort of intrusion.  
Seln descended towards the Shrine, materializing back to her physical form as she went. The other god stayed with her, looking over his shoulder at the southern horizon.  
They entered into the Shrine, where there was a congregation of gods already gathered, discussing a hologram of a map floating between them. Monolith was among them, looking like her former self, lacking the curling ram’s horns and long spines on her back. Everything else about her, the stone, ursine mask, the heavy armor, the dragonfly wings, the sleek, long tail, was the same. She looked up at Seln as she arrived, blue eyes swirling with energy.  
“Seln has seen something,” the god introduced, sounding just a little bit sarcastic. Most everyone was familiar with Seln’s overly excitable and sometimes vague ways of speaking. A good few in the room crossed their arms, expecting an overblown story.  
Seln took a deep breath, trying to stop herself from shaking. What she had seen wasn’t overblown; she wasn’t overreacting. She had seen Dormin’s underlings using strange creatures to feed Southlander children to a giant machine.  
She explained it the best she could, every detail that she could remember, trying to keep her voice from trembling. More gods filtered into the room as she talked, summoned by her call. As she retold her encounter, the faces of the gods around her changed from skeptical to worried to shocked. And in some cases, angry. When she ended her story, the room was silent.  
“I…I remember Dormin boasting about making a utopia,” she said. “I think I found it.”  
“I think you did indeed,” a god replied in a gravely voice. “This kind of behavior is completely immoral. Dormin has been overstretching his divine powers for too long, and look what it has created.” He swiped the holographic map and it shifted, moving south to show the vast ocean. The map zoomed out until the northern coast of the Southlands was just barely visible.  
“Could you tell us whereabouts you saw this island?” he asked. “There are a lot of islands in the ocean between here and there.”  
“It was a large island, heavily forested, with an extinct volcano,” Seln replied.  
“That narrows it down a little,” another god spoke up. They stepped forwards to the map, pointing to a few spots on the ocean. “There are active volcano chains in these spots. The trailing islands are all extinct.”  
“I didn’t see any other islands nearby,” Seln replied.  
“It would logically be located in an area where the Southlander fishermen never go,” Monolith spoke up, stepping forwards. “Somewhere away from good fishing spots and trade routes. That crosses out this island chain.” She pointed to a spot near the Southlands coast.  
The gods continued to delegate. Another minor entity stepped up to Seln and put a comforting arm around her shoulders. “There there, dear, you’re safe now.”  
And then the sky shook with thunder.  
Monolith snapped out of the vision, gasping. She knew what happened next from her own memories. Dormin, declaring war on the rest of his kind, took over the Higher Lands and set it on fire.  
“When you described it, it was unbelievable,” she said, still catching her breath. “But now…there is no doubting what you saw.”  
 _Why would you doubt me in the first place??_   
“Well, because you have a tendency to get overly excited about things,” Monolith replied crossly.  
“Someone want to fill me in on what weird mind-meld you two just did?” Mono asked, crossing her arms.  
“Oh, sorry,” Monolith apologized. “Seln showed me her memories of the ‘utopia’ Dormin founded, the discovery of which led Dormin to declare war on us before we could on him. He built some sort of magical machine that ran off soul power, I assume. He was kidnapping Southlander children to feed it.”  
Mono raised an eyebrow. “Southlanders? Well, they are godless heathens. Better them than us.”  
“That is the exact poisoned mentality that Dormin used to attract people to him,” Monolith criticized sharply. “He never liked the Southlanders because they refused to worship us like your people do. He drove a rift between your nations, and in doing so, convinced many people he was on their side of the “us vs them”. I’m not offended by the Southlander’s religious ways, and I’m the god in the picture. Why should you or your people care?”  
Mono looked down. “I guess I never thought about it that way…we were always just taught that the southern lands beyond the ocean were no good place for us.”  
“Southlander culture is rich and varied,” Monolith said proudly. “I often interacted with their fishermen on the ocean. While they didn’t worship us, they respected us, and us them. That’s all I ever wanted.”  
Mono looked down at her feet. “You speak from your heart, as it is enlightened beyond any human’s.”  
Monolith waved a dismissive hand. “I’m trying to improve how I view humanity, so I’ll say I’m no more enlightened than anyone could achieve, with enough time and studies. Your people have, what do you call them, monks? They meditate for much of their lives and become very worldly.”  
“Yes, we have monks, but they are social outcasts now,” Mono admitted. “A long time ago, the practice became fractured. Some monks wanted to dedicate their time to the gods and only the gods, but others wanted to do as you said, and become worldly. They are practically two different religions now. The former, they don’t call themselves monks anymore, and the latter, they lock themselves away, in monasteries high on mountains. We rarely see them.”  
“It’s all in the pursuit of enlightenment, either way you put it,” Monolith replied. “And speaking of such, with my heart returned, I can now see into the minds of others. I believe the answers are right in front of us now.” She gestured to the infant on Mono’s back.  
The woman hesitated, then slowly reached around and brought the child into her arms. It blinked and looked up at Monolith, as if seeing her for the first time.  
“What do you have to do, to see his memories?” the woman asked quietly.  
Monolith put her hand to the baby’s forehead. “Just this.”  
She shut her eyes and focused her mind into the palm of her hand. Her energy gathered, and like a spear of light, she pierced through the veil guarding the child’s thoughts. It was like flying through a cloud to see the sun on the other side.  
The child had their own string of memories, a short one. Monolith followed it back to the beginning, where cold stone was all around her. The child was sitting on its back in the basin, the empty basin. There was nothing before that.  
 _But that’s not all._ She could see that there was something beyond this string of memories, a tangled, murky pile of existence, like a bundle of charred rope. She took up the rope in her hands, and felt a burning sensation shoot through her. She quickly reeled herself back in time, knowing very well that there was something dark in that moment.  
A colossus was falling. She had reeled herself back to the fifteenth fight, the human clinging to the beast as it topped to the ground. He looked up, and Monolith saw through his eyes the black tendrils spilling from the colossus’ head. The fragments of Dormin’s soul, escaping and trapping the others in behind him. Monolith knew it was him without a doubt, but a human would never recognize those tendrils for what they were. The fragment impacted the human and everything went black.  
Monolith reeled herself forwards in time. Dormin had been slowly piecing himself back together within the human’s body. His soul gave strength to the man, assisting him in his fights. He spoke to him, gave him suggestions and clues. He struck down the automaton, the last colossus, and released Dormin’s heart.  
So Dormin had possessed him. His reunited soul fought to overpower the human’s for control of his body. Monolith was faintly aware of her physical self shaking, hand still glued to the child’s forehead. She was even less aware of Mono calling her name.  
The human was looking at Mono, except she was still dead, laying across the stone platform at the front of the Shrine. A perfect structure for an altar, but it had been a healing ward in its day. There were other humans in the Shrine, and they had their weapons up.  
They were speaking, but their worlds came garbled and soft to the human’s ears. His mind was too busy fighting Dormin to do anything else.  
 _So if the human fought the colossi by himself, then who are these men?_ They were the sources of the other hoofprints, the mysterious others Monolith had thought were accomplices. But instead, they seemed more like enemies.  
She gasped suddenly, teeth grinding together. The human had been shot in the leg with a crossbow. These men were no accomplices. They were trying to kill him.  
 _What are you doing?_ Monolith found herself trying to call to the men, trying to warn them off. Did they not know? Did they not understand? This man was fighting off possession. The last thing that should’ve been done to someone fighting possession was to distract them in any way. And getting shot in the leg was about as distracting as one could get.  
He had fallen. Monolith saw, out of the corner of the human’s eye, one of the men walking towards him. They wore white-painted wooden masks over their faces; all of the men did. Monolith wracked her memory for what that meant; it was a lineage thing. Certain noble families wore masks, or special clothes, that designated who they were. The masks were symbols of their nobility, which placed them closer to the gods.  
The shadow of the man fell over him. He lifted his sword; Monolith could see the point of it shaking.  
She roared in pain, hand flying to her chest. Mono screamed and jumped backwards, yanking the infant away from her touch. She was snapped out of the vision, everything spinning upright and no sword sticking out of her chest.  
“What was that all about?” she asked, annoyed. “You broke my trance!”  
“You roared and looked like you had been injured!” the woman replied, pale-faced. “You scared me!” The infant, startled by all the noise, started crying. Mono quickly moved to comfort it.  
“Sorry,” Monolith grumbled. “I just got stabbed in the chest. Or rather, your rescuer just got stabbed. By some white-masked idiot who clearly couldn’t tell that he was fighting off possession! Ridiculous…”  
Mono’s face drained of the rest of its color. “White-masked?”  
“Your rescuer encountered a war party of white-masked men,” Monolith told her. “They shot him in the leg like idiots, and then this guy just stabs him in the chest.” She crossed her arms over her chest grumpily. “I can’t believe it! No wonder They left here in a hurry. They bloody let Dormin take over his body!”  
Mono slowly sank to the ground, eyes vacant. “I know which noble family wears white masks.”  
“Well, that’s good,” Monolith grumbled. “I can track them down later and ridicule them on how stupid they are.” She paced away from the woman a bit and threw her hands in the air. “He was fighting off Dormin! If he had succeeded, and Dormin was cast from his body, they very well could have killed him then and there! They had a god-touched weapon with them; it would have worked!”  
Mono didn’t reply, just continued to stare off to the horizon. Monolith frowned, looking at her.  
“You seem more upset about this than I thought,” she commented cautiously. “I thought the worst part was going to be you finding out that baby is the guy who rescued you.”  
“That’s also very troubling,” the woman replied, “but not as…devastating. I don’t think it’s hit me yet.”  
“You sound like you know these guys,” the god perceived. Mono smelled of overwhelming sadness, they type one feels when faced with something they believe to be impossible, but at the same time, know it is true.  
“You could say that,” the woman replied heavily.  
Silence followed. Monolith looked away, out of the tall arches of the Shrine, sensing the woman’s grief. Her emotions were now specifically centered around that, the smell particular, like a cold stream choked by mosses. In its essence, it was suffocating.  
She turned back to the Shrine. “There is yet more for me to see,” she said. “Your rescuer was possessed by Dormin after being dealt a fatal blow. What happens next will connect then with now.”  
“Are you sure you have to do this?” Mono asked.  
Monolith nodded firmly. “There is no other way to see all that happened. I’m sorry I roared and scared you.”  
“It was just a reaction,” the woman said, holding out the child. “Go, just do what you have to.”  
Monolith, grimacing at the sour emotions in the air, placed her hand back on the child’s head and returned through the veil. She drifted back down the string of memories, finding where she had left off.  
Dormin took over the human’s body, and at that point his awareness of the surroundings diminished to a sort of anguished murk. He had no control and could see very little, as if trapped within a dark cave. The entity has expanded around him, shapeshifting his body into something more hideous and powerful. Dormin’s booming voice was the clearest thing about the situation. Below that, the cries of shock coming from the humans were like whispers.  
Monolith wished she could see more, but the eyes of the human were blinded. Dormin took a great, shuddering step and pain shot through her leg. Dormin inhabited an injured body, and hence any form he took would be crippled. He could only move at a crawl, dragging the leg. Pinpricks flared on his arms; the humans were shooting their crossbows at him, but in this monstrous, shadowy form, they were harmless. There was a crash, and a yelp; Dormin must have swung his fist at someone. Monolith could hear the humans encouraging their comrade to stand up, dragging him to safety. They knew this was a fight they couldn’t win; they were running away.  
Dormin followed them at a snail’s pace. Without sight, Monolith had no idea where in the Shrine’s great hall they were. From ahead, there came a cry. It was one of the humans, shouting. His words were blurred, but she felt the power in them.  
Silence. And then, the strike of metal upon stone, and a whoosh like the winds of a storm. Magic blasted through the air and wrapped in tendrils around Dormin’s form. He was dragged forwards by a sudden, great force. Monolith could feel his influence being stripped away, whatever spell was cast seeking to suck him into the whirlwind. As he was dragged towards the scrying pool, her vision became clearer. The light shown through the arches of the Shrine, between them the still body of Mono. The human was staring at her again, clawing at the ground, trying to hold on. His fingers slipped and he was thrown into the pool. There was a bright flash of light.  
And there it connected to the new string. He was on his back in the pool, crying. An infant.  
Monolith brought herself from her trance, withdrawing from the veil and closing it carefully behind her. She opened her eyes and removed her hand from the child.  
“I think our picture is complete now,” she said, exhaling. “One of those masked men was a magic-user, a powerful one. More powerful than what I thought was possible, seeing how little magic there was in the world then. They may have let Dormin out, but he was able to trap him back in.”  
“Thank goodness,” Mono breathed. “To think of that devil being free in this world…”  
“He was sucked into the scrying pool,” Monolith said. “The magic-user combined his powers with the pool’s and created a whirlwind. He must have thrown some object into the pool to use as a vessel. Something strong enough to hold a entity like Dormin…” the solution came to her mind. “Probably the god-touched weapon they had. Unless one of those men happened to be carrying a binding charm, that would have been the only thing strong enough. Pray that’s what they did, or Dormin is indeed free in this world. Bodiless, but free.”  
“What does that mean for us?” Mono asked quietly. She was staring at the ground, holding the child loosely. She still smelled of grief, but there was a strong dose of betrayal mixed in as well.  
“It means I have to track down this magic-user and find out what he bound Dormin to,” Monolith told her. “And then, I have to find the object. I will destroy it, extract Dormin, and destroy him.”  
“What was the god-touched weapon they had?” Mono asked.  
“A sword,” Monolith replied. She held out her hand and her own blade appeared in her grasp. “It looked like mine, but smaller.”  
“The Ancient Sword,” Mono said, sounding miserable. “The prized centerpiece of Lord Emon’s collection.”  
“Is that who the magic-user is?” Monolith asked. Mono nodded. She wrapped her arms around her knees, hiding her face. The god could tell she was crying.  
“I seem to have stirred up some bad memories,” she apologized. “I’m sorry to have done so, but we’re one step closer to catching up to Dormin.”  
“It had to be done,” Mono said, sniffling. “I understand. I-I must be confusing, acting like this. I haven’t told you everything about myself.”  
“Such is apparent,” Monolith replied. “You’re very secretive about a lot of things.”  
Mono looked up at her, wiping her face. “When you looked into his memories, did you see who he was?” she asked, pointing to the baby.  
The god shook her head. “No, I only viewed the string of his memory, his memories of time.”  
Mono looked away. “His name is Wander. He…he trained the horses that my father owned. My father is Lord Emon.”  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	21. The Truth Pt. 2

The Truth Pt. 2  
Monolith raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”  
Mono bowed her head, shamefaced. “I should have told you sooner, but I didn’t think it would matter.”  
Monolith crossed her arms. “You know, I had a feeling you were some kind of nobility. It was in the way you talked, like you knew you were important. I’ve been around countless nobles in my lifetime, and they are all the same in many ways.” She looked away. “You have the kind of confidence I would not expect in the face of a god, to be honest. Like, were you never worried I was going to smite you or something?”  
Mono looked up, perhaps a trace of a smile flitting across her face. “My father raised me to never be cowed by anyone. My family, they are strong and brave. I guess…I just never thought about it. I just did as I had learned. It was the least I could do, when I failed to live up to my expectations in so many other ways.”  
“You humans have so many expectations,” Monolith snorted, whiskers twitching. “I never understood it.”  
Mono sniffed. “I was never the daughter my father wanted.”  
“Well, as far as your father is aware, you’re dead,” Monolith replied. “Unless you think he knows how Dormin’s spell worked? You were not brought back to life until after he and his men fled.”  
“I can’t be sure,” the woman replied. “But it is better that he never sees me again, I think.”  
“You remember how I warned you of the superstitious kind?” Monolith asked. “Do you think your father would be one of them?”  
Mono shuddered, a fresh sob escaping her lips. She shut her eyes tightly. “Seeing how he was the one who sentenced me to death, then yes.”  
Monolith blinked, taken aback. “...Oh. That changes things.”  
Mono didn’t reply; she had dropped her head again and her face was hidden. The god could see her shaking, openly crying. Her sadness was thick on the air like salty ocean spray.  
“I’m…sorry?” Monolith finally said, unsure on how to approach the sensitive subject. The mortal was obviously upset, deeply so, but was this something that could ever be healed?  
Mono sniffed, lifting her head a little. She made brief eye contact with the god before dropping her head again, resuming her tears. Monolith looked down at her feet, feeling morose. The poor woman, put to death by her own father…the god didn’t really have a father, but she tried to imagine the same pain. What if…what if her best friend, Casper, had ordered her dead, in some theoretical situation? Is that what the woman was feeling?  
She sat very still and concentrated on the thought, on the feeling. She inhaled deeply, smelling the emotions on the air. Sadness, betrayal, regret. Slowly, those own feelings welled up in her chest. Her armor felt heavy on her shoulders and she dropped her head into her hands, claws scraping against the stone mask of her face. She could feel water welling in the corners of her eyes.  
“Why?” she whispered. “Why would he do such a thing?”  
“Because it had been foretold that I would bring Dormin back to life,” Mono replied.  
Monolith lifted her head, surprised. She had been talking to herself, addressing her own theoretical executioner. Her world had shrank down to only her feelings, and she had forgotten the woman was there.  
“Foretold? A noble believes the words of some reclusive soothsayer? I thought the highborn usually turned up their noses at such things.”  
Mono’s red-rimmed gaze met hers. “How could my father turn up his nose at himself?”  
“Oh, so your father is also a soothsayer?” Monolith asked, eyebrows lifting. “This is getting more complicated by the second.”  
“Not just a soothsayer, but one of the most powerful magic-users of our time,” the woman corrected. “That was my first failure, not inheriting any magic ability.” She looked away, taking a deep breath. “Not only does my father receive visions, but he can cast spells. I’ve seen him knock weapons from his opponents’ hands while they were still paces away from him; I’ve seen him float water through the air. The compound is warded; he walks the boundaries every month and renews the spell. It’s part of the reason he’s still the ruler, even though he has aged. His magic keeps him strong, and nobody can unseat him.”  
“Magic can extend a human’s life up to twice what it would have been,” Monolith quoted. “If your father is indeed as powerful as you say, that explains who knocked over the bridge.” The god slowly got to her feet and began to wander down the hall of the Shrine, eyes fixed on the empty scrying pool at the far end. “The bridge, the trapping again of a bodiless Dormin…” _The scratch on the ground from where the Ancient Sword struck the stone, its magic combining with the scrying pool’s. Lord Emon casts the spell, bringing Dormin into the vortex. Dormin is pulled from his host, but both are consumed in the vortex._ She reached the edge of the scrying pool, staring into the empty depths. _Lord Emon destroys the bridge, perhaps as a secondary method of trapping Dormin if the sword trick fails. Or, as a method of trapping Mono here, lest she return to this world? But the sword is gone._  
She looked up. “I have to go out there. I will not find Dormin within these halls. I must go beyond, and I must go to where there are more answers. And Lord Emon was the last person who interacted with Dormin.” She turned to face Mono. “I am going to meet your father.”  
Mono, all the way at the other end of the hall, looked up towards her voice. Her godly vision could see the shining tears still on her cheeks. “You should go. If anything, it will bring him closure too. But please don’t tell him about me.”  
Monolith bowed her head. “I promise I will not, my lady.”  
She felt the other souls moving around in her chest. Casper’s soul bubbled to the surface, asking for attention.  
 _I have been honored to share your body,_ he said, _but though you continue on noble pursuits, I must leave you for my own. The rest of my soul wanders the sky in pieces, and I must gather it back together. The skies are clearing and the way to the Higher Lands will soon be revealed. I must find the pieces of my soul before someone else does._  
Monolith bowed her head. “You speak true, Casper. Ignatus, you are free to go as well.”  
She held her hands out, palms up. She could feel energy surging beneath her skin, seeking to break free. She relaxed and let it go, warm trickling from her fingers. A gold and red blob formed in her left hand, a green one in her right. The blobs shifted and began to lift from her skin. The gold one formed into a vague shape. Monolith felt the curling ram’s horns on her head begin to dissolve, turning into gold dust that flowed into the shape. The physical symbol of Casper’s residence within her faded to nothing, but the shape in her hand now had those same horns. She smiled, lifting her arm, and the golden glow drifted away, passing through the great arches of the Shrine. It winked out against the clearing sky.  
 _Ignatus?_ She asked. The healer’s soul gathered in her palm and pulled away, taking with it that powerful certainty of immunity to physical harm. But it was an illusion of invincibility that left her, and without it she felt just how fragile she was, in her physicality. But without that illusion, she was all the wiser.  
She turned her thoughts to the last soul sharing her body. _Seln?_  
 _You are very sad your friend has left you!_ The air god replied. _I don’t want to leave you just yet! You might need my help!_  
“I appreciate your empathy, but you really do deserve your own body,” Monolith replied, rubbing her eyes. “You would be more helpful in your own form and to be honest, having you bouncing around in my head can be…nauseating.”  
 _Oh._ Seln seemed apologetic. _I’m sorry, but I just get excited about stuff!_  
“As I am aware,” Monolith replied. “But you’re a full-powered god now, and when you get excited, it feels like I have a thunderstorm developing in my brain. And I don’t want to ask you to not get excited, because I know that’s not who you are.”  
 _I…I understand, I think._ Seln gathered herself into a small, sad ball of energy. _You and the other major gods never wanted me around before the war either…_  
Monolith covered her face with a hand. “No, no Seln…” _Great, I’ve offended her._ “It’s not that I don’t want you around, I just don’t want you in my head.” Seln’s soul was acting so pitiful that she couldn’t bring herself to say any more. _Is this really how minor gods felt about the majors? Or is Seln just dramatic?_ She knew and had acknowledged her disregard of humans before the war, but had she treated minor gods in the same way?  
Seln’s emotions were so strong, she faded seamlessly into her own memories. Before Seln’s discovery, before she brought news of Dormin’s utopia to the gods, she had been considered nothing but a free-floating item, someone who never stuck around and achieved anything admirable. Her fellow minor gods, be they other air spirits, river gods, or tunnel diggers, were always on the fringes. They went where they wanted, did what they wanted, and enjoyed life without the same responsibility the major gods seemed to tote around. A single word floated through her brain: freeloaders.  
She moved forwards in time. River gods fought tooth and nail against Dormin’s forces that tried to advance from the Watchtower via the sea; air spirits rained lightning and hail upon demonic infantry. Tunneling gods made and collapsed networks beneath enemy feet, sometimes sacrificing themselves in the process. They pulled their own weight and more.  
She bowed her head, coming back to the present. “I’m sorry, Seln. I didn’t mean to offend you. You’re very important and have helped me in so many ways. It was nice, sometimes, to have someone to look through my eyes and help me see. But we’re both whole again now, and you deserve your own body. Don’t you miss flying through the skies, soaring on the wind?”  
 _Of course!_ Seln scoffed. _You can fly, but nothing like I can. There is no fun in your flight!_  
“Oh, ok,” Monolith said, feeling a little offended. She crossed her arms, but withheld the desire to snap back at the entity. “Let me strike you a deal: if we can find a worthy body for you, whether I make something or kill something, you’ll take it. You can stay with me after, I won’t make you leave. You can pick the body, just say the word.”  
 _I have the exact body in mind,_ Seln replied. _And I think you know about it too._  
“Yes?” Monolith asked, feeling nervous about the answer, which was obviously going to be something…big.  
 _The flying colossus,_ Seln said. _The one you regretted killing, the one that soared the air without a care in the world. I want that body._  
Monolith squeezed her eyes shut. “By the stars…I don’t know if that’s possible, Seln. That beast, its magic, is incredibly complex and was damaged twice by god-touched weapons. The amount of energy and skill that we would need to fix it…we would need a soul forge. Where are we going to find one of those?”  
 _The humans have many magical artifacts,_ Seln said. _Maybe Lord Emon has one!_  
Monolith looked over her shoulder, to where Mono was sitting alone, staring out of the great arches of the Shrine. “Mono, does Lord Emon have a soul forge in his collection?” She asked.  
Mono looked up. “He does.”  
“Of course he does,” Monolith grumbled, turning away. “Well, Seln, it seems we have a potential solution. But I’m not sure if Lord Emon will let us have his soul forge.”  
 _We could always borrow it,_ Seln suggested. _Without telling him._  
“That’s stealing, Seln,” Monolith muttered, rolling her eyes.  
 _Same thing!_ Seln yelled back, making her head buzz. _Borrow without telling, steal, whatever. The human who came before stole the Ancient Sword from him; we could probably steal the forge with ease. We’re not going to find one anywhere else, unless you want to search every corner of every ruin. You know Dormin destroyed the Great Forge when he had control of the Watchtower._  
“That was one of the first things he targeted,” Monolith muttered darkly. “The source of god-touched weapons and magical items. He may have been evil, but it made him a great tactician.”  
 _The only other place we might find a surviving soul forge is in the Higher Lands, but if we go there, we’re going to have to deal with the souls and potentially bodies of reincarnated gods,_ Seln continued. _I don’t know about you, but I’m not ready for another encounter with Dormin’s minions, bodiless or not._  
“Oh, I’m ready,” Monolith growled. “I cannot wait to cut down those cowards and fools. I took their souls to give myself strength, but I will never commit such an act again, for it is immoral in its every facet. And they deserve nothing less than permanent death.”  
 _Oh, well, have it your way,_ Seln replied, curling up. _You know I was never one for violence…_  
That deserved another eye roll for the air spirit who had eagerly shattered a colossus into pieces.  
“Another reason you need your own body,” Monolith told her. “When I return to the Higher Lands, my blade will fly free. You needn’t be part of that.”  
“Care to fill me in on what you two are discussing?” Mono called from across the room. She was standing up, baby returned to the sling on her back. Her eyes were still red, but she had a new look of resolve in them.  
“Seln and I are going to travel to Lord Emon’s estates,” Monolith told her. “We are going to find out what we can about Dormin’s last moments and ask to borrow his soul forge.”  
“Good luck with that,” Mono muttered. “He never lets anyone but other nobles into his collection rooms, and they’re heavily guarded. Some of the items in there are safety hazards, should they fall into the wrong hands.”  
“You talk like you already know we’re going to have to steal it,” the god replied.  
Mono shrugged. “Just a prediction.”  
“I do not know the way to Lord Emon’s estates,” the god said. “Do you think you could provide me with some landmarks?”  
“Do you have knowledge of the human realms north of us?” Mono asked. “Maps in your memory, anything?”  
Monolith cocked her head, thinking. “I do believe we once had a map room that contained human maps…the hologram projector in the Shrine read them. The map room was in one of the upper stories, in a section that I believe has collapsed. And the hologram was disassembled for parts. But I think I can call the maps to mind.”  
She knelt, putting a palm flat to the dusty ground. In front of her, in a four-by-four square, the dust began to shake. It slowly lifted from the ground and gathered into swirls, tiny tornadoes. The dust settled into lines, borders, mountain ranges. The crude map was sketched out before them, the southernmost point of the Forbidden Lands just above the bottom border. The landmass stretched north, eventually encountering the upper border. The land continued beyond there, but those stretches were cold and barren and had never been charted in detail. Monolith knew no humans lived that far north, only mammoths and other ice-bound creatures.  
The Forbidden Lands was surrounded by a high cliff, the bridge to the Shrine the only way in and out. Where the bridge had once connected to the clifftop there was a decorative arch and a cobbled path.  
“That road leads into the mountains,” Monolith pointed to the path. “I know that’s how the humans got to here. But once the road gets to the other side of the mountain pass-“ she moved her finger up the map, pointing to where the road exited the other side of the range- “it appears there is an intersection, and three roads head away from here. One to the east, one to the west, and one to the north.”  
“My father’s main estate is here,” Mono pointed to the eastern side of the map, to a marked city. “He has two hunting lodges, one in this area and one in the northern forest. His summer estate is on the coast, down this way.”  
“Which one of these places will he be at?” Monolith asked.  
“His main one,” the woman replied. “These lands do not have seasons, but it was the end of summer when I…I was sentenced to death. Not too much time could have passed between now and then.”  
“If he’s not there, the hunting lodges aren’t that far away either,” Monolith reasoned, scanning the map. “So take the eastern road, it seems.”  
“You will pass through one major city before you reach there,” Mono cautioned. “I don’t know if you care about the status of your arrival, but if you are seen by those citizens, they will surely alert Lord Emon.”  
“Indeed,” Monolith mused. “I must consider the fact that the humans may assume I am hostile. Though with much of the magic gone from this world, they will surely be short on warlocks and magicked weapons…not that I’m planning on getting into fights,” she added hurriedly, seeing Mono’s face. “Should I make myself a white flag?”  
“You’re not surrendering anything,” the woman replied, “so no.”  
“Fair enough,” Monolith agreed. “So follow the eastern road, past the big city, and then take the northern fork after the bridge. One of the greatest inventions of humanity, roads are. What a way to get from place to place…everything important is connected!” She waved her hand, and a drop of water appeared on the map, sitting on top of the labeled Shrine. “You may track my progress with this, if it will bring you comfort. The water will follow my path and wet the ground where I have been.”  
“I will watch it gladly,” Mono replied. “I wish you safe travels, Monolith. And when you finally meet my father, be conscious of what you say. He is not the old man he looks, and he does not tolerate disrespect. And his people are loyal to him to their last.”  
“I don’t plan on starting anything,” Monolith told her. “This is the first contact between humans and gods in ages that hasn’t been hostile. I have nothing but good in my heart towards humanity.”  
“Stay true to those words,” Mono said. “You are powerful, Monolith, but so are we.”  
The god nodded respectfully and turned to face the empty scrying pool. “I fly faster than a horse can run. However long it takes to travel from here to there, I will do it in half the time. I will see you soon.”  
“Godspeed,” Mono’s voice followed her into the adjacent chamber and up the ramp like a ghost. It faded to nothing, the sound of her own footsteps echoing against the stone. She reached the top of the spiral and walked out onto the balcony, looking over the jagged edge where the bridge once connected.  
 _I am just an echo of a fallen time. But when provided with the right surfaces, an echo can be amplified into thunder._  
She spread her wings and launched herself into the air.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


	22. Lord of the White Mask Pt. 1

Lord of the White Mask Pt. 1

Mountains zoomed away beneath Monolith, their white-capped peaks stretching to touch the sky. She flew just above them, sometimes kicking up snow from the surface of glaciers when she passed. The glittering crystals filled the air behind her, twinkling like miniature stars. Everything was cold and crisp, chilling to mortal bones, but comfortable for her. The air moved fast over the peaks, shreds of white clouds carried on their streams. Far below, the mountain road wound its way through the pass, a narrow strip of cobble above a raging river. From this height, Monolith would look like a bird to any passersby. But she could see the road was empty.  
 _It is forbidden, after all, and why else would anyone come to these mountains?_ As she traveled north, however, she began to see more signs of humanity. Herds of goat and elk on the mountainsides, sometimes with a barking sheepdog and sometimes without. Smoke lifted from the stacks of small cabins, the herder’s homes. Some herders had only tents, made of thick bear and elk skin. Eventually, Monolith even passed over a monastery, one of the secluded homes of monks that Mono had spoken of.  
The mountains began to get smaller, snow vanishing from their tops. Monolith followed them down in altitude, curious to see the bigger human roads. The mountain road had been a humble dirt-and-cobble thing, but she was sure the bigger roads would be impressive feats of engineering. Now that was something worth seeing!   
The intersection, shaped just like the foot of a giant crow, was nestled in the foothills. The smaller mountain road connected to a great circle of cobblestone from which the other roads radiated. Monolith, even from her altitude, could make out the bristling, star-shaped design inscribed onto the cobbles in colored brick. She flew closer to make out the details at the points of the star. It was crowded but elegant, with six large points and two smaller points between each one. Each point was one of four colors, with blue to the north, green to the east, red to the west, and three points of yellow to the south.  
There were humans on the road, on foot, donkey, horseback, and cart. They were walking around the exterior of the design, a wide, grey-cobble border. Nobody tread on the design, and the reason why became clear to Monolith as she flew a little closer; the symbol was a roadmap, pointing the way to whatever was down those roads. The large points, one to the north and south, and two to the east and west, had the names of large cities on them. The smaller points listed services offered in those cities; smiths, merchants, doctors, monasteries, temples, and more. One of the human words Monolith didn’t recognize: “church”.   
She frowned. The southernmost-facing large point had no label; it pointed to nothing. In fact, as she flew slightly lower to investigate, she could tell that the label stones had been removed and replaced with a newer cobble, color less faded with time.   
_Well, if we are to reinstate relations between humans and gods, we’re going to have to design a new direction stone._  
A startled shout drifted to her ears from below. She glanced away from the cobblestone circle and her eyes locked onto an outpost settled next to the southern road – no, across it. The outpost literally blocked the path, cobbles uprooted by the foundations. On the western side of the building there was a tower, maybe thirty feet high. Under the tiled roof were a handful of guards, and they were all staring up at the sky, specifically, at Monolith.  
 _Oh, for gods’ sakes,_ she cursed herself. She had flown low enough that her outline no longer resembled a hawk’s; they could see that she had four wings beating opposite to each other as she hovered. If not that, then it was her long, ribbonlike tail that gave her away. Hawks had neither.  
She quickly gained altitude. She hadn’t done anything to give away her identity as a god, but such was easily assumable. Now, the humans on the road were moving about nervously, reacting to the bustle in the outpost. Horses whinnied nervously, feeling their rider’s anxiety. Drivers put their heads down and urged their oxen to walk faster away from the intersection. People were looking at the sky, pointing.  
 _Great._ Monolith curved a wing and turned eastward, flying away from the intersection. _They obviously aren’t happy to see me.  
Well, maybe they thought you were a monster?_ Seln suggested. _They don’t know who you are.  
Fair enough._ She beat her wings resolutely. _Do you think I should just talk to them?  
Um, I think they’ll be just fine without talking to us,_ Seln replied nervously. _They had a very large ballista on that outpost.  
You seem very nervous about humans,_ Monolith commented. _You helped me take on the colossi without batting an eye, and now you’re nervous about a ballista?  
Humans don’t behave how you expect them to, _Seln replied. _That scares me about them._  
Monolith aligned herself with the eastern road and flew on. She climbed upwards until the road was just a ribbon below her, and she was indistinguishable to the normal eye on the ground.  
The sun was starting to set on the horizon; from high in the sky, she could see how it gracefully arced over the curve of the earth before dipping below the horizon line, the presence of which indicated this mortal plane that the humans inhabited was round. Spherical or oblong, scholars weren’t exactly sure. Before the war, humans were afraid the world was flat and that they would fall off the edge if they weren’t careful. The gods, having ranged farther and seen more of the mortal world, reassured them that there was no edge.  
 _Do you think the humans still believe that their world is flat?_ She asked Seln.  
 _I hope not, but like I said, humans don’t behave how you expect them to,_ the air spirit replied.  
Monolith could see fine in the dark; she had already flown a few nights over the mountains, guided by starlight. She had to maintain a lower altitude to keep the narrow road in sight, but in the dark (and in the middle of the mountains) she didn’t have to worry about being spotted. The darkness would probably hide her, but after the encounter at the intersection, she felt a little…apprehensive.  
"I think I’m going to bed down for at least part of the night," she told Seln. "We’ve made really good time so far and I’m nervous about flying low to follow the road. While there may not be travelers out, there certainly will be soldiers. And bandits, but I’m not worried about them."  
 _You have a good idea!_ Seln agreed enthusiastically. _Avoid encounters with the humans!_  
She curved a wing and headed towards a stand of trees maybe a half-mile south from the road. Amidst all the farmland the trees seemed to stand out strangely; why hadn’t they been cleared to make way for fields? The section of forest was about seven square miles too, plenty of good land for farming.  
Monolith dipped into the trees, swinging her feet around to alight on a thick branch. _Not that I mind…forests are essential to the stability of mortal life._ These trees were very old and large as well, the perfect habitat for many animals.   
_Maybe this is the land of some crotchety old hermit,_ Seln suggested. _He hides in the trees. Oh, or maybe a wizard lives here!_  
“A good thought,” Monolith mused out loud, yawning. “But we’re just going to be here for the night. No need to seek out our host.”  
She walked down the branch to the trunk. The tree was so large it would probably take three of her to encircle it; the bark was rough and full of deep crevasses. She stuck her fingers into such a crevasse and swung her feet out, planting them against the bark. Nimble as a panther, she climbed down the tree. Reaching the ground, she felt the spongy soil under her feet, covered in ferns and other growth. The air held a heavy, earthy smell that reminded her of the lush forest south of the Shrine.  
 _I always wondered how you were so good at climbing in stone sandals,_ Seln commented.  
Monolith looked down at her feet, which were clad in stone-and-metal sandals that wrapped around her toes and ankles. “It’s all in the hands and arms and only a little in the toes.”  
She looked around the darkening forest. Bandits and other unwanted folk tended to hang around in places like these, but as far as she could see, there was no trace of human intrusion. But she was beginning to smell something else in the scents of the woods…  
“Oh,” she muttered. “This is a bog. No wonder nobody goes in here.”  
By some stroke of luck, she had climbed down to solid ground, supported by the large tree’s roots. She picked up a stick and poked the seemingly solid ground a few feet in front of her; the stick sank right in.  
“You could lose an whole army in here,” she commented. “I guess I’m sleeping in a tree…”  
The tree she originally landed in had branches big enough. She gripped the trunk and hauled herself back up to a choice branch. She seated herself on the wide bough, back to the trunk. She wrapped her tail around the branch, leaned back, and hit her spines against the trunk. With a curse, she jumped forwards.  
“Damnit, Seln, I can’t sleep in trees like how I usually would with these spines,” she complained.  
 _I thought bears slept on their bellies over branches,_ Seln replied.  
“Those are leopards,” Monolith corrected her. “Not bears. And while I may look like a bear, I’m not one.”  
But it was a good idea, nevertheless. She flipped herself onto her belly, re-wrapped her tail, folded her hands under her chin, and fell asleep.  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
She woke to the first rays of light poking through the forest canopy. She yawned, stretching out her arms. Planting her hands, she stretched her torso, then shook, feeling the scalloped armor plates on her back glide past each other. She stretched her wings out to her sides, folded them down again, and stood up.  
“I certainly slept longer than expected,” she commented. “Your method was very comfortable, Seln.”  
 _You’re welcome!_ The air spirit replied cheerily, buzzing with energy. Monolith grimaced, rubbing her eyes to keep the headache from starting.  
“Let’s keep going, shall we,” she muttered. “The faster we get this over with, the faster we get you your own body.”  
She lifted her wings and hopped off the branch. Air immediately buoyed under her and she rose upwards. Angling her wings, she curved towards a gap in the canopy, full of bright sun. Emerging from the trees, she stopped to hover and let her eyes adjust. Looking around, she spotted a gathering of humans at the most recent town on the road, maybe a half day ride by horseback away. A knot of people were gathered in the street, surrounding a group of armored men on horseback.  
“What’s your guess those are the guards from the outpost?” she grumbled. “They must be trying to track me.” She snorted, crossing her arms. “Good luck with that.”  
Beating her wings, she gained altitude into the sky, blue and patched with puffy clouds. Once high enough, she repositioned herself over the road.  
“We have timed this perfectly,” she informed Seln. “We should reach that first major city at dusk, and the darkness will allow us to pass overhead undetected.”  
Mind set, she turned her head east, towards the rising sun.   
_Look down!_ Seln urged.  
She did; there was a lone man on a fast horse below her. He was riding all-out, and his jacket colors marked him as a messenger for nobility.  
“Probably from the outpost too. We really scared them.”  
She winged east. The messenger horse fell away behind them, unable to keep up with her airborne pace. The rest of the road was quiet, bustling towns here and there, providing those services listed on the great road compass. The humans went about their lives as they always did, oblivious to the god flying above them.  
They passed over one town that had a particular building, one with a tall steeple and colorful glass windows. It caught Monolith’s gaze and she stopped her flight, coming to a hover. The graceful stone architecture reminded her of godly structures, tall in their reaches and detailed in beauty. Godly buildings used magic to be tall and grand; human buildings, constrained by themselves, could be only so large.  
“It’s very nice,” she commented aloud. Flying a little closer, she squinted, trying to read the name on the building.  
 _I can’t get close enough to it to see what it says. Oh well, I’ll have to visit it later._  
She flew off, heading towards the towns on the horizon. Just beyond was the first large, human city she would encounter. With her most recent urban memories having occurred within the Forbidden Lands, she had no idea what to expect.   
Seln was excited. _I’ve never seen the big northern cities up this close before! I mean, I probably flew over them at one point, but that was lifetimes ago! I’m sure so much has changed!_  
“Yes, of course,” Monolith muttered, eye twitching. Maybe it would be best for her comfort to avoid places that would get Seln too excited…  
The sun dipped low in the sky. Buildings started to appear over the horizon, crawling into fields. Farmhouses turned to shops and businesses, with residents living above them. The buildings got closer together and the road encountered their edge. Like a spiderweb, the cobbles connected all the houses to the main strip. Where there weren’t cobbles, there were dirt roads and alleyways. The main road continued on, into the heart of the city. It passed through a stocky archway in the city’s wall, tips of the iron gate visible at the upper edge. Two watchtowers flanked the gateway, and the towers were glowing brightly with firelight.  
 _Stars above, are those catapults?_ The wall had a handful of war machines poking over it, small catapults and ballistas. The two guard towers, plus the other towers at the corners of the wall, contained wide dishes of blazing coals. Torch-wielding braziers occurred every so often along the wall, and the result had the whole structure illuminated, staving off the darkness. There were guards marching rounds along the wall, armed with spears and axes.  
 _They look like they’re expecting someone._ Smithy fires were aglow within the city and people were working, despite how late it was. She flew lower, careful to not go too low and enter the sight of the firelight. Many houses had lights on, too many. People were peering out the windows at the fire, at the guards, at the sky. One of the storehouses within the city had its doors wide open, and people were moving around inside.  
 _Are the humans at war right now?_ Seln asked.  
 _I’m not sure,_ Monolith replied. _I didn’t see any signs of war. No fires, no armies, no destroyed houses…this can’t be because of us? That messenger won’t reach this city for another two days of nonstop riding, and he already rode nonstop to that other town. He’ll need to break to rest, unless they send someone else. They can’t possibly know about us yet._  
She winged her way over the city, passing above the richest district. These people had their own private guards, and they were on patrol. Within a second wall, with its own guards and towers, was the house of the city’s noble, flying great flags. Windows were lit and people moved about like ants, carrying weapons and supplies.  
 _They act like they’re expecting to fall under siege!_ Monolith observed. _What could this be all about?_  
She wished she could disguise herself somehow and go ask the question, but it was a little impossible for an over ten-foot-tall bear-faced god with stone dragonfly wings and a long tail to pass as a human.  
 _Let me go!_ Seln urged. _I can listen in to the human’s conversations while staying undetected.  
You sure?_ Monolith questioned. _You’re not really the quiet type…  
Hey! _Seln sounded insulted. _Just because I cause rainstorms when in distress doesn’t mean I can’t be a good spy. Plus, I don’t have any physical form, so try as I might, I can’t summon much more than a puddle. I’m basically a moist ghost.  
Ew. _Monolith wrinkled her nose, whiskers twitching in disgust. _Alright, go hear what you can hear._  
She held her hand out and a glob of pink began to form in it. Seln slowly extracted herself from her body and floated away, her bodiless soul forming a rough outline of herself. Seln’s physical form used to be something between a horse and a tiger; her soul attempted to hold a shape somewhere near that mark, but as she said, she really wasn’t more than a moist ghost.  
“I’ll be back soon,” the ghost whispered, unable to speak any louder in her state. The pink blob became significantly more translucent and floated downwards towards the city.  
“Good luck,” Monolith wished in her wake. The pink shimmer was soon out of sight, nearly invisible against the air.  
There wasn’t much to be done in the meantime, and it made Monolith anxious. She circled the city on a faint breeze, eyes picking up more clues to the human’s unrest. Construction of war machines was happening in a hidden corner; a quarry road leading out to the north had horse teams on in, despite the near midnight hour. The darkness was settling thick, with clouds over the moon, so she flew closer.  
She could see the terse emotions on the faces of the guards near the firelight. They were watching out from the towers and patrolling along the wall, silent except for the clop of their boots. At certain points around the wall, pairs of men clustered around unusual, metal cylinders, a device unknown to Monolith. The objects were set on a rotating base, with handles on the sides. A new kind of weapon, perhaps?  
Someone on the wall gave a shout, and she spotted a man pointing at the sky. One of the guards swiped a torch from the wall and stuck it into the bottom of the strange device, and suddenly a beam of bright light pierced the darkness. A flame burned in the bottom of the device, which was lined with mirrors on the inside. The light of the flame was captured in all directions, reflected, and shot into the sky.  
She heard a screech and spotted what the men were pointing at; a leather-winged beast with a long beak and bony crest. Monolith recognized it immediately; she had seen them flying above Dormin’s armies. They were nothing but dumb-minded monsters, and this one had found its way out of the Higher Lands somehow.  
The monster seemed stunned, caught in the bright beam. It flapped in place, staring blankly at the spotlight. Monolith heard the deep twang of a ballista, and moments later the massive arrowhead pierced through the beast’s chest and out its back. The darkness hid the spray of blood, and the monster dropped like a stone.  
There was another shriek and a second monster dove from higher in the sky. This one was nearly twice the size of the first, which had already been larger than the average human. She could hear the ballista cranking around, but the machine wouldn’t be reloaded and aimed in time to stop the monster from making it to the wall.  
The decision was made in less than a heartbeat. Monolith dove after the monster, wings folding against her back. On the edge of the firelight she rammed into its flank, shattering its left wing and sending it spiraling off-course. Another war machine sang out into the night, and she spotted a net flying towards her, edged with lead weights.  
Reacting faster than any mortal beast could, she called her sword to hand and swept it down, cutting the net in half. The two pieces fluttered harmlessly by her, landing heavily somewhere in the darkness. In the same heartbeat, she swept her wings downwards and shot into the sky.  
 _Idiot! They saw your sword!_ The beautiful, god-touched blade had reflected in the firelight, sparkling like a fallen star. Annoyed, she tossed the blade away; it dissolved into nothing as soon as it left her hand.  
 _All because you wanted to save one or two guards from a monster._ She shook her head in frustration. Would her past self have cared about the lives of one or two humans, when there was a larger war to fight?  
She frowned, scanning the city over again. Yes, the monsters had been frightening. But all this setup couldn’t possibly be for dealing with just a few marauding monsters.  
She spotted a pink blob ascending towards her in the dark; Seln had returned. She held out her hand to receive the air spirit.  
 _What did you find?_ she asked once Seln had settled.  
 _Oh! So much!_ Seln gushed. _The humans are worried Dormin will attack them!  
What?_ The humans thought Dormin was free?  
 _It took me a while to find all this information out,_ Seln continued, _but I just had to listen to the right people! The city received word from Lord Emon that someone had entered the Forbidden Lands and was attempting the forbidden spell. He rode through here on his way there...when he returned, he informed the council that Dormin had been sealed within the Forbidden Lands.  
Sealed? He must believe his gambit with the Ancient Sword worked, _Monolith mused.  
 _Indeed!_ Seln exclaimed. But then they received word from him again, just a few days ago, that someone was attempting the forbidden spell again!  
Again? Monolith cocked her head. _He must have been able to see the beams of light in the sky; that’s how he knew that Wander was succeeding in casting the spell, and that I was fighting the colossi again. But if he thinks I was attempting the spell, then he also must think that Dormin is free. But that does not make sense in all ways...  
And that is why the humans believe they will be under attack soon! _ Seln concluded. _They think Dormin is free!  
We have to find out what exactly Lord Emon did to trap Dormin,_ Monolith replied. _And we need to clear up this confusion. The humans on the wall may have spotted me, though I cannot know if they could tell what I was. Either way, we must make haste. We have wasted enough time here._  
She turned her head to the eastward road. She was rested and ready; the next time she landed, it would be within Lord Emon’s walls.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


	23. Lord of the White Mask Pt. 2

Lord of the White Mask Pt. 2

“What a sight!” she exclaimed, coming to rest on the branch of a large maple tree overlooking the archway into the city. “Why, I haven’t seen proper wards since we took down the ones Dormin had installed around the Watchtower!”  
She pointed to the small, lamplike objects sticking out of the ground on either side of the archway. They glowed with magical energy, and cast an invisible shield between them when activated. Nothing could pass through, not until the shield itself was broken or the wards themselves were destroyed.  
 _Do you think they just put these here?_ Seln asked.  
Monolith shook her head. “Mono had mentioned that Lord Emon warded the city, and these look old. Someone has been taking excellent care of them, but there is some wear that cannot be stopped.”  
The wards flanking the archway were in standby mode, allowing traffic in and out of the city. As soon as someone spotted Monolith, she predicted that would change.  
“We need to either get into the city before they can activate the wards, or somehow convince them to let us in after they do,” she said. “What’s your opinion?”  
 _If we try to enter quickly, they might think we’re attacking them,_ Seln reasoned. _Maybe we should sneak in?_  
“We could,” Monolith mused. “However, getting caught in such a deed will also seem like an act of aggression. The most peaceful and diplomatic option would be to ask for entrance.”  
 _But as soon as those humans on the road see you, they’re going to panic,_ Seln cautioned. _You know how humans are._  
“Like sheep,” Monolith agreed. “Well, worst comes to worst, they arrest us and we get into the city anyways.”  
 _Or they just try to kill us,_ Seln quailed. _Monolith, I’m nervous._  
“Don’t be, at least not until you see someone with a god-touched weapon,” she comforted the air spirit. “All the weapons in the world are useless against me otherwise.”  
 _Ok, ok,_ Seln said, jittering.   
Monolith shuffled to the trunk of the tree and slid down it, landing in the thick bushes surrounding the small grove of trees. The road leading up to the city had many small groves interspaced between farmhouses, adding beauty to the otherwise-cleared landscape.  
Monolith peered out from the bushes, watching the road. People, animals, and carts trundled back and forth in no real pattern. A break in the traffic would be nice...there were quite a few carts, and she would feel really bad if someone got run over because she spooked a horse.  
 _Ok. Here goes nothing…_ There was a decent break in traffic forming in front of her. It wasn’t optimal, but if she waited much longer, she would lose her patience.  
She pushed through the hedge, trying not to look too terrifying as she used her claws to cut the branches from her path. Sunlight spilled across her form, illuminating the stone mask of her face, her twitching, grey whiskers, and her glowing blue eyes. It warmed the bands and plates of her stone armor while the faint breeze rustled her brown fur. The hedge crunched behind her, reforming itself around the hole she had made.  
A man spotted her; his eyes got really big and he halted in his tracks. A shaky finger came up and pointed at her while his mouth failed to form real words.  
She opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by the shrill scream of the woman walking with the man. She clutched her hands to her chest, turned, and ran like her dress was on fire.  
That was all it took for pandemonium to ensue. The people on the road walking away from the scene turned towards the terrified sound, took one look at the hulking figure of the god, and panicked. The original woman dove around a horse and spooked the creature; it reared into the sky, hooves kicking. People were running, screaming and waving hands. A horse-drawn carriage went barreling down the road, scattering those in its way as the two horses panicked, sensing the fear around them. A young girl stumbled and fell in the carriage’s path.  
The reaction came just as automatic as before. Monolith’s hand shot out and the road beneath the little girl shifted. Earth rose to one side and fell to the other, and the child rolled down the slope and off the road, out of the way of the carriage. The horses galloped over the rise of dirt and kept going, carriage bouncing unsteadily behind them. Monolith called the water from the air to saturate the ground beneath the wheels and the road turned to mud. The carriage became bogged down, and the horses were soon dragged to a shuddering halt, flanks heaving, but otherwise unhurt.  
If anything, that show of power made everything worse. Monolith watched, feeling helpless, as the road around her became deserted. Doors and window shutters slammed, adding to the din. Soon, there would be the clank of armored boots as well.  
 _Might as well keep walking._ At least the road was clear now, so she wouldn’t have to dodge around carts and animals. She set off towards the city’s gates, trying to ignore the chaos around her.  
 _At least there’s no more traffic!_ Seln said optimistically.  
They neared the gates, the wall looming high above them. Monolith heard a screech of metal and the iron grate began to descend from the top of the arch, cutting off their path. She sighed, shook her head, and kept walking.  
The wards were starting to glow, someone powering them up. Monolith stopped just before the line in the dirt that marked where the ward would be cast, even though the shield was not yet up. She looked up at the wall, where she could hear the clanking of ballistas turning on their stiles.  
“I’m not here to fight,” she called up the wall. “I’m on your side. I need to speak to Lord Emon.”  
There was no reply, of course; the guards didn’t do the talking to interlopers. Some higher-up was undoubtedly on the wall, considering their decision.  
“I need to speak to Lord Emon,” she repeated. “It is very urgent.”  
“You will not enter this city, beast,” a man yelled down from the top of the wall. “State your business here and be gone.”  
Monolith frowned, crossing her arms. “This matter is for Lord Emon’s ears, not yours. I must see him.” She held her hands out. “In chains, if you will. I do not care.”  
The wall was silent. Monolith looked down at the ground, putting her hands on her hips. “Hopefully they send a runner to Lord Emon himself and he orders these idiots to let me in…”  
The silence continued and she urged herself to be patient. Something would happen, eventually…  
She heard the low-tone cry of the ballista a heartbeat before the sun reflected off the barbed metal arrowhead, shining in her eyes. Her foot slid back and she curved her spine, bending out of the projectile’s path as everything around her seemed to move in slow motion. The metal sung by her, and not a moment after she was clear from its path, she was waiting for another strike. But none came.  
She straightened back up, glaring at the wall. “Is this any way to treat a lone traveler, arriving at your gates with words of peace and urgency?”  
No reply. Monolith refused to move, keeping her gaze on the wall. If they shot at her again…  
The gate started to creak open, stopping about halfway up. A troop of armed guards marched through, led by a man wearing the garb of an experienced military man. Unlike the spear-toting guards, he carried a curved blade on his hip, something that Monolith knew was a privilege for only the most skilled.  
They stopped just behind the shimmering surface of the ward barrier. “You will be allowed entrance into the city,” the swordbearer barked stiffly. “But you must submit to our restraint. Any unwanted behavior will result in your timely dispatch.”  
Monolith knew well enough what they meant by that, but she doubted they could follow through with it. “As you wish, sir,” she replied, dipping her head.  
The man turned his head just slightly and gave a curt nod to the fellow behind him. An electric crackle filled the air between them and the section of barrier lifted, allowing the guards to approach. Monolith obediently put her hands behind her back, allowing them to secure heavy manacles around her wrists. Two more guards secured her ankles, the short chain between the cuffs preventing her from taking any more than a shuffling step. Though, at her size, a shuffling step was still almost as much as a human could take.  
“Follow me,” the swordbearer barked, and turned back towards the gates. They proceeded through the wards, which closed behind them with a crackle. The guards formed a ring around Monolith, looking forwards with stony faces. They seemed not to acknowledge the presence of their prisoner, but she knew better than to underestimate their attention.  
They moved beneath the gate and through the grand archway. Metal screeched as the gate lowered behind them.  
 _Monolith, I’m scared,_ Seln said quietly. She had curled herself into a tiny ball in Monolith’s stomach, shaking.   
_Don’t worry, Seln,_ she reassured the air spirit. _If we need to make a quick escape, I can break these chains in two heartbeats. And they haven’t restrained my wings.  
I-I just hate the feeling of being restrained,_ the god whimpered. _It’s so...so wrong.  
We’ll be fine. _She had confidence in herself.  
They marched up the main street as it wound through the city. People took one look at the approaching party and fled the road like a stampede was approaching. Shoppers vanished from carts; cart owners ducked behind their wares. Shutters and doors snapped shut. Mothers pulled children down side streets. Monolith wasn’t sure what was more terrifying; herself, or the stone-faced guards accompanying her. The man in the lead had his hand on the pommel of his sword; if looks could kill, those slow to get out of their way would have already been dead.  
They approached the grand estate centering the city, a set of secondary walls hiding most of the actual compound from view. Monolith caught the scent of fragrant flowers through all of the fear and anxiety, and she shut her eyes in a moment of tranquility.  
“Keep moving!” the swordbearer barked. The inner gate had swung open, the great, oaken doors inscribed with many arcane symbols. Crossbows clicked quietly along the top of the wall as guards took aim, ready to fire on the prisoner.  
Monolith ignored them; they could do nothing to her.  
They marched through the gate, entering the sweeping estate. Instead of the dirt and dust of the city, they were greeted by lush lawns and sparkling fountains, a white-marble bridge leading over the small stream that encircled many of the buildings. A beautifully-built pavillion adorned a stretch of lawn, lanterns hanging from its eaves, glowing with ethereal light.  
They caught Monolith’s eye. “Are those everburning lanterns?” she asked, unable to restrain her curiosity.  
“No questions!” the swordbearer barked.  
They entered the building across the bridge, a long entrance hall with a massive woven carpet greeting them through the double doors. The hall was lined by sturdy wooden pillars, painted red with white accents at the top and bottom. Guards hid in the shadows between the pillars, silently at attention, their faces hid by white masks.  
 _There are a lot of guards,_ Monolith noted. _I don’t know if Lord Emon is paranoid and this is normal, or this is a product of my presence._  
They clunked down the hallway, flanking guards unmoving as statues. Once they reached the double doors at the end, they stopped.  
The swordbearer turned. “You will wait here until Lord Emon is ready to receive you,” he said. One of the guards flanking the door turned stiffly and vanished down a hallway to the right, undoubtedly entering the following room through a servant’s door elsewhere. He would tell Lord Emon that they had arrived.  
Monolith dipped her head in acknowledgement. “I appreciate your hospitality.” The subtle jab was not missed by the swordbearer; she saw his lip twitch into the ghost of a sneer.  
The guard returned to his place at the door not long after. He nodded to the swordbearer, who signaled his men. The two guards took hold of the door handles and drew the doors open.  
The doors opened onto a high-roofed hall, grander than what had come before. Wooden columns supported the soaring roof, the space behind them greater, throwing into shadows the guards and other exits they protected. There were no windows on the ground level, but above, nearing where the walls met the roof, light poured through a clerestory, illuminating the space. What they didn’t cover, everburning lanterns did, light soft and flickering.  
Lord Emon sat at the end of the hall, his chair raised above the rest of the floor. Attendants occupied the space surrounding him, all of them a step or two below where he sat on the dias. This was how they subtly displayed their ranks and favors; the closer to the lord, the more in favor they were.  
Lord Emon sat forwards in his chair as they entered, elbows resting on the arms as he touched his fingers together, observing the approaching party with a critical eye. His white mask hung from the left arm of his chair.  
He looked older than Monolith would have expected, with nearly white hair and creases cornering his eyes. But she remembered what Mono had said about her father, about how his looks deceived. And Monolith had met too many magic-users in her lifetime to be tricked by their appearances.  
The guards halted her still many paces from the dias. She lifted her head, meeting the lord’s eye, and waited for him to speak.  
“My lord,” the swordbearer said, kneeling before the dias. “We have brought the intruder.”  
“As I can see,” Lord Emon replied, eyes never leaving Monolith’s face. “How did she avoid the ballista?”  
The swordbearer seemed to take a moment to adjust to the lord’s offhand gendering of his prisoner. “...She dodged it, my lord,” he explained. “Reacted with speed no human could muster.”  
“Indeed,” Lord Emon mused, eyes narrowing. “When I received the description of a stone-masked bear at my gates, I expected the guards to drag in a dead monster, or perhaps a shape-shifting sorcerer. But then they told me the creature had dodged the bolt.” He lowered his hands and stood up from his throne. “That bolt had a seeking charm on it. It would have struck anything mortal. Only a god-touched charm could strike a god.”  
The attendants around him moved uneasily, one of them lifting a hand and speaking quietly. The lord silenced him with a wave of his own and he stepped back respectfully.  
“When my scrying pool first began to show the pillars of light in the sky vanishing, one by one, only to reappear, I believed the worst could come for us. We had to prepare for war,” he said as he descended the dias. Attendants parted around him like water around a rock, bowing their heads as he passed. The swordbearer’s eyes widened, but he too stepped aside with a bow as the lord approached. The guards moved away, leaving the space between god and lord clear.  
“My binding spell could have failed,” the lord continued. “When my ancestors created the colossi and bound Dormin’s souls within it, we knew we were trapping more than just him. Those who worked beneath him and those who fought against him. Killing the colossi again would let them out. The question is, whose side are you on?”  
Monolith took a breath, ready to reply, when Lord Emon’s hand shot out to his side. A curved blade appeared in his fist, metal inscribed with runes and glowing with magical energy. Fast as a snake, he lunged towards her, blade aimed at her throat.  
She snapped the chain holding her wrists together like balsa wood. Her hands came flying towards her front as she called her own blade to her grasp; the gleaming edge struck against Lord Emon’s magicked blade, expertly parrying it away from her throat. The impact would have knocked the weapon from a lesser human’s grasp, but the lord kept hold of the hilt. He stepped back, holding his sword defensively. Monolith did the same, lifting her blade in front of her body.  
She became acutely aware of the multitude of spears prodding her flanks and back. The swordbearer had drawn his own weapon, for whatever good that would do, and had it pointed at her.  
“Stand down,” Lord Emon ordered his men. “She is not our enemy.” He lowered his sword. “There is only one god that has a sword like that one. And only one that can use it with such grace.”  
The guards reluctantly lowered their spears; the swordbearer moved even slower. While he lowered his weapon, he didn’t sheath it.  
“My name is Monolith,” she finally got the chance to speak. “If you know your ancient lore, then you will know me by a different name. But I do not answer to that anymore.”  
“General of the seventh Regiment and leader of the Retaking of the Watchtower, if I remember correctly,” Lord Emon said precisely. “Your physical form was thought to be destroyed, but yet you stand before us.”  
“This is no product of possession or witchcraft,” Monolith promised. “My physical form was never destroyed, just lost. Dormin never got that far.” She pointed at the lord. “Your ancestors, the Warriors of the White Mask, stopped him.”  
Lord Emon nodded. “Indeed. While most people have forgotten the wars of the gods, my ancestors, charged with the keeping of the Forbidden Lands, made it their duty never to forget. We have no records of the faces of the gods, but your sword is unmistakable.” The corner of his mouth twitched into the ghost of a smile. “My ancestors loved the design of your blade so much they asked the gods for copies.”  
“I have to presume your binding spell worked,” Monolith said bluntly. “There is no trace of Dormin in the Forbidden Lands, nor is there any trace of the vessel you trapped him in. You used what you call the Ancient Sword, did you not?”  
Lord Emon nodded. “It was the most powerful item we had. I expected to arrive at the Forbidden Lands to find Wander dead by the hand of a colossus, but he defeated them all, by some miracle. We were unprepared for what we faced.”  
Monolith felt anger crawling up her back. “You could have defeated Dormin then and there, but you were blinded to what was going on,” she growled, the tone of her voice making the guards around her stiffen.  
Lord Emon’s face was cold. “Wander deserved what he got, for the crime he committed. Killing him was mercy.”  
“Killing him led to Dormin’s empowerment!” Monolith snarled, eyes flaring. “Had you let him live, he could have fought off his possession. Dormin would have been helpless at your feet, and you had the Ancient Sword in hand!” She gestured to the gleaming blade the lord still held. “You prove yourself the wielder of another magicked weapon as well, which is just as effective. Instead, you were blinded by your sense of justice, and nearly unleashed Dormin on this world.”  
“Justice would have been to let him burn, like the others who tried to enter the Forbidden Lands!” Lord Emon replied. “Balance had to be restored.”  
Monolith slid her foot out, widening her stance. The chain between her ankles snapped with a sharp click. “Like all humans, you are blind to everything except what is in front of you! You killed your own daughter because you foretold her a role in the revival of Dormin, but failed to consider which role she would play. You ordered your men to kill Wander, failing to acknowledge the state he was in. And you were so assured of your victory that you failed to bring a proper binding charm to the fight, allowing Dormin to reduce Wander to an infantile form in a cruel twist of fate.”  
“So you’ve met Mono?” Lord Emon asked, uncowed. “You mentioned my daughter.”  
Monolith jerked her head back. She’d accidentally given away Mono’s existence, the one thing she promised never to do.  
“I had wondered if Dormin would uphold his promise,” the lord mused. “He may have been cruel, but he never truly lied.”  
Monolith felt a growl building in her throat. “I am here to right these wrongs, Lord Emon. You have trapped Dormin within the Ancient Sword, which vanished into the depths of the scrying pool. It has gone somewhere outside my knowledge. You cast the spell upon him; you have the best guess of all of us where that sword has gone. I mean to track it down and kill the demon inside.”  
“The best place to begin righting these wrongs would be to send my daughter back to her grave,” Lord Emon said. “Every breath she takes breaks the very laws of nature. You, a god, the keeper of the balance of nature, should know this.”  
“You blame the victim,” Monolith growled. “She did not ask to die, or to be brought back.”  
“Then kill Wander,” Lord Emon replied. “He is the one who committed the crime. Make a pact with me that you will, and I will tell you where I sent the Ancient Sword.”  
Monolith’s eyes widened. “You will consider no other agreements?”  
Lord Emon’s face was set. “I will not.”  
The god frowned, eyes darkening. “You mean to make an infinity pact.”  
The lord nodded and extended his hand. “I have the powers to do so, Monolith, and I will. How else will I trust you to your word?”  
The god eyed his hand, considering her options. There were very few.  
She took the lord’s hand. “I will agree to your terms.”  
He nodded, a satisfied look crossing his face. He lifted his free hand and energy trickled forth from it, forming a sphere around their hands. “I put forth these terms to be agreed upon; I, Lord Emon, will truthfully divulge the location of the Ancient Sword to Monolith, the hand whom I hold. In turn, she will kill Wander, who used the Forbidden Spell to revive my daughter, by midnight of the day in which the Ancient Sword is found.”  
Monolith nodded. “I, Monolith, will kill the infant that was once Wander, by midnight of the day in which I find the Ancient Sword. In turn, Lord Emon, the hand whom I hold, will truthfully divulge the location of the Ancient Sword to me.”  
Lord Emon waved his hand and the magic sank through their skin. Monolith felt a jolt run up her arm, revolving once around her heart before vanishing into a fizzle. Once feeling returned to her fingers, she dropped the lord’s hand.  
The lord clasped his hands behind his back. “We shall be retiring to my map room, where I shall uphold my part of the pact. Court is dismissed.”  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


	24. A Blade and a Promise Pt. 1

A Blade and a Promise Pt. 1

Monolith followed Lord Emon out of the hall, hands folded behind her back. “The swordbearer who brought me here was very ready to protect you. Does he not understand the fallacy of trying to fight a god without the proper weapons, or is he just that dedicated?” She was perhaps more dismissive than she meant to be.  
“Probably both,” the lord grunted, not looking over his shoulder. “If he wasn’t so dedicated, he never would have gotten to where he is.” He didn’t seem to be bothered by her tone.  
“I guess there is logic in that,” the god reflected. “Though it is always a shame when dedication leads to your best throwing their lives away.”  
“You are very critical of my ways,” Lord Emon observed, opening the door into the map room. “Has my daughter turned you against me, or have you the same disdain for the whole of mankind?”  
Monolith started, realizing how she was speaking. “I-I would like to think neither, my lord.”  
Lord Emon looked over his shoulder, face cracking a wry smile. “I have hit a nerve there, it seems. Perhaps you are not as tough and gnarly as you made yourself to be in front of my court.” He stepped aside from the door and held it open, gesturing for the god to step through. “You and I share the greatest enemy as common, after all.”  
“And maybe you are not as stubborn and rooted in tradition as you seem as well,” Monolith responded. “After all, since when was it proper etiquette to greet your guests with a ballista?”  
“It was the safest way I could glean your identity, as I stated before,” the lord explained. “And every chance we have to field-test our weapons against new threats should be taken. I hope you haven’t taken offense to it.” The tone of his voice was clearly sarcastic.  
Monolith flattened her ears. “I do hope you’re kidding about that.”  
Lord Emon chuckled and moved to the head of the map table. He opened a long drawer and withdrew a yellowed, ragged parchment. With delicacy, he unrolled the faded map across the table. The corners glowed a little and the map automatically flattened itself, magic aligning it with the distance markings on the edges of the table.  
“This map is ancient,” Monolith noted. “What use is it to us? Surely the roads and cities have changed.”  
“But some places have not, and others no longer exist,” the lord replied. He pointed to the Forbidden Lands, outlined on the map in gold. “This map was created by the gods as a gift to my ancestors, and thus the magic embedded in it has preserved it over time. If you read the labels of your holy land, you will recognize many of those places.”  
Monolith leaned over, eyes scanning the Forbidden Lands. The Shrine, the Watchtower, the Fortress, they were all there, plus so many other places she had known in her past life. As old as the map was, their locations and topography were correct to every detail. Undoubtedly, this was godly work.  
“So the location you sent the sword to no longer exists on modern maps?” she guessed.  
“The location it was supposed to go to does not,” the lord confirmed. “But that is not because it is located within the Forbidden Lands.” His finger traced one of the roads, to a desolate part of the southern mountain ranges that cut off the Forbidden Lands from the rest of the world. It stopped above a small, triangular mark on a western mountain. “There is a monastery here, one most of the world knows nothing about. In the times of my ancestors, it was a holy pilgrimage site, but a massive earthquake destroyed the only road leading up to the monastery not long after Dormin was imprisoned. Crews tried for months to rebuild the road to bring supplies to the people trapped on the mountain, but every attempt ended in failure. People began to think the place was cursed, and abandoned their efforts. Nobody who was trapped up there ever made it down the mountain.” He removed his finger from the map. “Sending the sword there would ensure nobody else ever found it.”  
“Do you believe it is cursed?” Monolith asked. “You have bet a lot on the inaccessibility of this location.”  
Lord Emon looked up and met her gaze. “A team of the best magic-users, my ancestors, could not find a way to the place. So yes, I do.”  
Monolith crossed her arms. “So the sword is inside this abandoned, cursed monastery. What makes you think I can get it?”  
Lord Emon gestured at her wings. “Nobody has ever tried to approach the place from the air.”  
Monolith eyed the map; the monastery was located in the center of the range, surrounded by peaks. The road to get there, even intact, had to have been treacherous. Without upkeep, the path would have been reclaimed by the mountains within a few years. Such a place faded from memory nearly as fast.  
“Why here?” she asked. “What else is in this place, besides its location, that you would think it so suitable to hide Dormin’s intact soul?”  
“The monastery is days away from the nearest civilization,” Lord Emon replied. “Nobody, not even shepherds, go on that mountain, and the peak is desolate. If Dormin escaped within its walls, he would have nothing around him to give him strength. No bodies to possess, no ears to whisper into. He could try his chances with the mice and the rats that manage to cling to life up there, but even a godly rodent would have a hard time making it down that mountain. And without a physical body, he would be vulnerable to the dark magic that hangs around that place.”  
Monolith rested a finger against her stone-masked cheek, considering the options. “When I defeated the colossi, I released all the other souls Dormin and I had ever stolen. Some of Dormin’s minions will roam this earth again.” She shook her head slowly. “Your choice of location for the sword continues to be impeccable. If one of his cronies tries to rescue him, the dark magic of the monastery would be a great obstacle to him. If it is indeed cursed, assuming. But I doubt it would hold them forever.”  
“I have thought about that very situation,” Lord Emon informed her. “After I figured out what was going on within the Forbidden Lands, I wondered where I may have gone wrong. I aimed to cast the sword to the monastery, but it could have gone somewhere else. Dormin could have escaped there or otherwise. I had only a few seconds to cast the binding spell, and it was the best place I could bring to mind.”  
“For the sake of my quest, I hope it is where you cast it, otherwise I will be scouring the mountains for years,” Monolith grumbled. “His minions will be looking for him too. I hope I encounter them, so I may send them to their final grave.”  
“You took souls, just like Dormin did,” Lord Emon stated. His eyes were perceptive.  
“I did what I had to,” Monolith replied defensively, whiskers twitching. “Dormin was doing it to make himself stronger, and if I had any hope of defeating him, I had to do the same. Our numbers were dwindling, and I was the only one brave enough to do it.”  
“Or immoral enough,” Lord Emon suggested.  
Monolith flared her nostrils, voice growling. “If I hadn’t, Dormin would have killed us all and reigned free over this world! I took the souls of my enemies, those who deserved it for their crimes.” Her eyes burned. “You punish those who break your own laws in other terrible ways. Do not lecture me on the morality of justice.”  
“Would you do it again?” Lord Emon asked her patiently.  
Monolith drew her head up. “No. I would not.”  
Lord Emon looked down at the map. “So you have changed,” he mused. Faint frustration crossed his face. “I wish I could see through the eyes of my ancestors, for the words they left on the gods were futile descriptions of their true grandeur. Many of their words were poems, which complicate the matter of remembrance even further. But it is clear that mankind and godkind disagreed on many things. Our morals, our laws, and what we hold dear are all different.” He frowned at the map. “Humanity these days has become very averse to differences in others. I can only wonder how they will react to the return of the gods.”  
“For their own sakes, I hope they will be reasonable,” Monolith warned. “Once Dormin is slain, I will return to the Higher Lands to gather my allies, but many will not listen to me. If you greet another of my kind with a ballista bolt, they may not be as forgiving.”  
“I will keep that in mind,” Lord Emon promised. He waved a hand and the old map unstuck from the table. He gathered the parchment carefully, rolled it up, and returned it to the desk. “I have upheld my part of the pact. You have been given the location, and my prayers are with you that the sword arrived there safely. You must uphold your part of the pact now.”  
“Not to worry,” Monolith replied evenly. “I know better then to break an infinity pact. I will do as I promised.” She felt the pact’s energy twitch around her heart. “But before I go, I have one more favor to ask of you.”  
Lord Emon raised an eyebrow. “Yes?”  
“I would like to borrow your soul forge,” the god told him.   
He frowned and raised an eyebrow. “And why would you need a soul forge?”  
Monolith held out her hand, palm up. Seln’s soul bubbled to the surface and materialized, the pink blob shimmering like jello. Once gathered, Seln hovered above Monolith’s hand, taking on a faint shape.  
“I carry this being with me,” the god said. “Her name is Seln and her soul is complete to what it used to be. She was vital to our discovery of Dormin’s crimes and his declaration of war that followed. I would like to give her back a body, one worthy of her status.”  
Seln’s soul jiggled excitedly. _She called me worthyyyyyyyyyy!_  
Monolith resisted rolling her eyes.  
Lord Emon’s expression became one of contemplation, weighing the odds. Monolith tried not to hold her breath.  
“Perhaps I should allow you to borrow it, as a measure of good faith,” the lord finally said carefully. “After all, we should seek to instate good relations with the new gods. In ancient times, we and the gods gave many gifts to each other.”  
“I can offer you something in return, if it would persuade you,” Monolith pressed. “Access to the soul forge is not only desirable, but critical to my future plans, including the destruction of Dormin.”  
“I could make such a deal,” Lord Emon said, clearly drawing out the conversation for his own enjoyment of Monolith’s impatience. “It would require some consideration. There are many things that my kingdom and my people need. Even more so now that the gods have returned, and some with a vengeance against us. The list is long and winding.”  
“I could bring you a colossus,” Monolith blurted. Seln jumped in her hand a little, surprised. “An indestructible guardian for your city. Such a powerful beast, powerful as I could make it, would be a valuable tool for protecting your city and your people from the wrath of the gods. You may be a powerful wizard, but you are only one man.”  
“You may call me a sorcerer,” Lord Emon said, resting his hands on the table. “That is the title I have adopted. “Wizard” has become somewhat of an insult these days.”  
Monolith’s whiskers twitched. “My apologies. That is a nuance of language that has changed since my time. What do you think of my offer?”  
“It is tempting,” the lord said slowly. He paused, eyes on the blank map table in front of him, gaze considerate. “You believe you can succeed at such a feat?”  
“I know I can,” Monolith replied, holding her head high. “All I need is the soul forge.”  
“Consider it a deal, then,” Lord Emon replied, lifting his gaze from the table. “I expect my soul forge to be returned in one piece.”  
“Of course, my lord,” Monolith dipped her head. “You will have your forge, and your colossus.”  
“I will retrieve the forge for you; my men will escort you to the courtyard where you will wait for me,” Lord Emon ordered. He lifted his hand and snapped his fingers; Monolith saw the small poof of magic that sparked around the motion. Within the minute, a knock came on the door.  
“Come in,” Lord Emon said. The door opened, revealing the same swordbearer from the court and a gathering of armed guards, all stone-faced. They marched into the room like clockwork, seeming to ignore everything around them as their leader bowed to the lord.  
“Please escort my guest to the Evening Courtyard,” he ordered. “I will meet you there to send her off.”  
“As you wish, my lord,” the swordbearer said. He motioned to the guards, who changed formation and lined up in two rows, leading up to the door. His baleful gaze turned to Monolith, and he gestured for her to walk through. She nodded stiffly to him and proceeded, noting how his gaze seemed to burn against her back. Seln’s soul quickly darted to her shoulder and huddled there, shaking.  
 _He has some anger against me,_ she observed. _I wonder what I have done to offend him so._  
Seln sank through her shoulder, merging back into her body with a feeling quite like a static shock. _I don’t know, but he scares me._  
 _He’s ridiculous._ Monolith snorted, whiskers twitching, resisting the urge to shake her head dismissively. One of the guards blinked, almost losing his demeanor when the looming god passed by him, exhaling like a bull ready to charge.  
 _I hope we can convince them to like us,_ Seln’s voice was tiny. _I don’t want any more fighting. No more war. I hate war._  
 _Me too, Seln,_ Monolith replied. _But I have a feeling that more divides us now than it ever did._  
She was escorted down the hall by the guards. The swordbearer moved through their ranks almost like a ghost, taking the lead. He barely gave Monolith a passing glance, expression never changing. None of the guards looked at her; it was like she didn’t exist.  
 _It’s not worth trying to talk to them._  
And so they walked in silence, save for the tromp of boots and the whisper of the god’s feet. Despite her stone sandals, she was quiet as a mouse on the tiled floor.  
Eventually they reached a set of richly-carved doors, which the swordbearer rapped his fist upon twice. The doors opened outwards, handles gripped by gloved hands. The two guards on the outside of the doors stepped aside in unison, pulling open the oaken panels. Their procession marched through with continued silence, entering into the courtyard. Tile turned to marble stairs, then cobble surrounded by lush grass; the path wound into fragrant gardens, but the swordbearer stopped them only a few paces beyond the base of the stairs. He turned, facing Monolith with a cold gaze.  
“We will wait here for Lord Emon,” the man barked. The guards changed their positions, moving out to Monolith’s side in lines. They flanked their leader, now facing the rising wall of the estate. Monolith was left alone in facing the gardens; she paused, assessing her situation. It would have been much more pleasant (and appropriate) to walk the sprawling gardens while awaiting the lord, but instead they would force her to wait here like an untrusted criminal.  
She snorted, turning to face away from the guards. “An impressive garden. It is a pity I will get no chance to enjoy its tranquility.”  
The swordbearer’s eye twitched. “You may think of yourself as a political ambassador, but that you are not,” he growled. “Lord Emon does not give permission to common visitors to wander his grounds.”  
Monolith raised a stoney eyebrow, head unmoving. “A common visitor? So I reckon you get gods at your gates quite a lot, then? How important you must be.”  
She could tell by the faint scrape of shoe against earth that the swordbearer had stiffened. The man had such a distaste for her, that he made clear. Good relations with humanity be darned, she wouldn’t let herself be kicked around like a mongrel dog. She was a god, and she would not answer ridicule with silence. And now that the swordbearer was quiet, and she smiled at that. The human needed to know that he wasn’t better than her.  
 _Don’t say anything more,_ Seln begged. _Please, don’t. He’s angry and you’ll only make it worse. We need them to like us._  
 _We’ve already done a bad job at that,_ Monolith replied. _I criticized Lord Emon in front of his entire court._  
 _And yet he took that better than everyone else did!_ Seln protested. _He’s not like the other humans, Monolith. He’s smarter and he can see his purpose is truer. These other humans are bogged down in their emotions against you, but he is not. I know you’ve been trying to see how they are equal to you, but you have pride and you have temper. Your words are hurtful._  
 _They may be my equal, but that does not mean they can disrespect me,_ Monolith rebuked. _I will not tolerate it. And you know just as well as I that the humans, including Lord Emon, have been shortsighted._  
 _I don’t want to argue about it,_ Seln whimpered. _Please, just don’t start a fight with this man. I can tell you want to._  
Monolith exhaled, shoulders relaxing as she released the tension she had built. _You’re right; it’s not worth the trouble. This man wants to pick a fight as much as I do, but it takes two to do so. Let us just get this soul forge and get out of here._  
The door in front of them opened, revealing Lord Emon and a company of four guards, all dressed in armor that had mystic symbols inscribed in the metal. Monolith immediately recognized the craftsmanship as sorcery.  
 _Four sets of magicked armor? What an accomplishment._  
Lord Emon was holding an object wrapped in white cloth that had runes woven into it. The object was roughly a cube, one foot in dimensions. Monolith could sense the faint energy radiating from it.  
“As promised,” the lord said, stepping down the stairs and approaching the god. “I trust you will not misuse it.”  
“Of course not,” Monolith replied, dipping her head. “You have my word. And I will uphold my part in this bargain as well.”  
The lord approached her, and she held out her hands to accept the item. He passed the cloth-wrapped bundle to her, her fingers curling around its edges. The forge was heavy, heavier than one would expect for an item of its size. It was warm as a sun-touched rock, even through the protective cloth. Monolith drew the object close to her chest, feeling comforted by its aura of magic.  
“I would like to thank you for your hospitality,” she said, slitting her glowing eyes. “I will not be bothering you any longer.”  
“We know who you are now,” Lord Emon told her. “If you ever return, you can trust that these gates will open for you.”  
Monolith’s eyes widened just a smidge. “That is very generous of you, my lord. In that case, I do believe you’ll be seeing me again. Once I have gathered the gods once more, we should seek to reinstate the alliances of old, and make them new.”  
“I will consider it,” the lord said vaguely. “Save travels, Monolith. The wards have been deactivated, so you may fly freely from here.”  
The god dipped her head. “You have my gratitude. May the magic that is the blood of this world keep your people safe.” She lifted her wings, stone appendages casting sharp shadows across the courtyard. The swordbearer, who had been hovering a bit close to her flank, quickly stepped back to avoid being battered. The god bent her knees and leapt into the air, wings sweeping downwards. The sudden wind lashed the grass of the courtyard; a few of the guards brought a hand up to cover their eyes from the gale-like gust. Lord Emon remained unmoved, robes blowing in the wind. Monolith could feel his gaze following her, even as she soared over the city and out of the range of normal sight.  
 _We got it!_ Seln celebrated. _And we didn’t have to steal it!  
Good thing,_ Monolith replied. _I know before that I wasn’t interested in thievery, but the infinity pact has shifted by plans a bit.  
What are you going to do about that? _Seln asked, sounding concerned. _You cannot just kill an infant, can you?  
Remember that a body is just a body, and a soul belongs to no one,_ Monolith replied. _At least, a soul belongs to no one until it has been saturated with memories. But then again, a body is just a body._  
Show me what you mean, Seln said, and Monolith opened her mind to the other god, letting her plans lay bare.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


	25. A Blade and a Promise Pt. 2

A Blade and a Promise Pt. 2

Monolith landed with a thump outside of the Shrine, kicking up a respectable puff of dust. Mono was already on the steps, waiting for her, the map in the dust showing her the god had arrived.  
Monolith looked up at the sky. The circle of blue was wider yet, but the gleaming stairs of the Ascent were still hidden behind the grey masses that surrounded them. But they were there, she knew, the lines of their form extending to meet the base of the Shrine’s own staircase, as if the two were connected.  
“You met him, I suppose?” Mono asked. She raised an eyebrow, looking at the bundle. “I hope you didn’t have to steal that.”  
“I did no such thing,” the god replied, setting the bundle on the ground. Now within the Forbidden Lands, surrounded by ancient magicks, the bundle was hot to the touch.   
Mono crossed her arms. “So you managed to get on my father’s good side? I hope you were respectful to him.”  
“I may have criticized him in front of his entire court,” Monolith admitted, turning her head away and grimacing. “But I think he forgave me.”  
Mono covered her face with her hands. “Oh, why would you do such a thing…”  
“I’m just a wee bit temperamental, ok?” Monolith replied, holding her fingers an inch apart in her visualization of “wee”. I had some...opinions about how he handled the situation here, and I wanted him to know I was displeased.”  
“You are lucky you are a god,” Mono signed. “You people can get away with these things.”  
Monolith flattened her ears. “I didn’t yell at him because I knew I could get away with it, I yelled at him because he deserved the reprimand. And nobody else was going to do it.”   
“Just remember,” the woman said pointedly, “you’re privileged.”  
Monolith dipped her head, whiskers drooping. “Aye. I’m privileged. I know. I have no problem with it...but it seems like you do.”  
“Because we are the ones with the short stick,” Mono replied. She whistled, and moments later, Agro came bounding down the stairs, tossing her head gleefully. She trotted up to the woman and snorted at her, blowing her hair with hot horse breath. The woman patted her cheek. “Shall we go to the site, Monolith? Seln’s body is waiting.”  
They galloped across the landscape, the god leading. She bounded over hillock and boulder, keeping the soul forge secure in her arms. They headed for one of the fourteen beams of light, grass and growth turning to sand and heat as they went. The landscape altered so quickly, dunes rising from the ground, in ripples like the ocean, their sands sweeping down their sides but never touching the grass beyond. The sun’s rays increased their intensity beyond the border; now that the clouds were beginning to thin, the already-bright landscape had gotten brighter. The grey clouds glowed almost white.  
They approached the one dune that sat amongst the others, but did not follow their rippling pattern. The body of the colossus was sprawled as they left it, but completely covered in sand, as if the earth was trying to pull it under.  
 _I hope it has not started to degrade!_ Seln worried.  
“And if it has, I can repair it. It is made of stone, which is my speciality,” Monolith replied. She stopped a few paces from the flank of the beast, knelt, and set the soul forge upon the sand. She stood back, eyes scanning the colossus’ corpse. With a sharp inhale, she lifted a foot and slammed it back into the sand. With a rumble and gust of wind, the sand was blasted off the stone body, revealing the colossus. Stray grains still stuck to its fur, which was limp and ragged, brown color like rotten seaweed. Its stone form looked softened at the edges, as if the blowing sand had been rounding it away.  
“I would advise you to stand back,” Monolith said over her shoulder to Mono. She gripped the white cloth in her hand, ready to remove it from the forge. “Soul forging is a tricky business and can have...unpleasant results if things go wrong.”  
Mono’s eyes widened and she quickly stepped back. “Do things go wrong very often?”  
Monolith shrugged. “It depends. In the hands of a properly-trained god, with the proper safety precautions, things usually go as planned…usually.”  
 _I have seen what happens to people who mess with soul magic without knowing the proper procedures,_ Seln quailed. _But thankfully, the worst of the repercussions tend to happen to the users, not the souls involved! Well, sometimes._  
Monolith rolled her eyes. “Thank you for reminding me, Seln. You wouldn’t be doing this if it had a large personal risk to your own being, now would you?”  
 _Of course not!_ The god chimed. _But I trust you too, Monolith. You’re a very powerful god, and you’ve used soul forges before. You know what to do!_  
“Indeed, but there is always a chance of failure,” she said. “Doing a soul insertion is a pretty basic spell, so I don’t expect to be killed if something goes wrong. But still, I saw one of my fellows accidentally transplant half of his soul into a statuette of a direwolf once. We couldn’t find a way to reverse what he did, so he had to live out the rest of his life in two bodies.”  
Mono’s eyes were huge. “What happened to him?”  
“He was killed during the war,” the god replied. “The god part of him, at least. Nobody knows what happened to the direwolf statuette.”  
 _Let’s go already!_ Seln yelled. _I want my body!_  
“Alright, alright,” Monolith grumbled, the yelling making her head pound. “Extract yourself, please.”  
She held up her hand and Seln bubbled to the surface, gathering into a pink orb. She floated upwards, gently rippling her surface to propel herself.  
Monolith noticed the spines on her back were still intact; the air spirit hadn’t taken her lightning powers with you.  
“Seln?” she asked, raising and eyebrow. “You forgetting something? The spines?”  
“I think you should keep them for now,” the soul whispered in a voice barely louder than the wind. “You have better control over the power than I would, and the extra bit of energy may protect you.”  
Monolith inclined her head. “As you wish.” She took a breath, slitted her eyes, and whisked the white cloth away from the forge.  
The blast of heat was like standing at the edge of a volcanic caldera. It simmered across her armor, heating it instantly. She huffed, grinding her teeth together against the discomfort. Any human who tried to approach the forge without the proper protections would find their skin blistering from the heat.  
And slowly, the heat lessened to a bearable measure. The forge sat neatly in the sand, the grains closest to it having melted into a glassy mass. It was a metal cube covered in inscriptions and lines, glowing faintly with energy. Monolith knelt and placed a hand on the surface. Fingers touched a set of symbols; she grasped a near-invisible dial on the machine’s surface and turned it.  
With a whirr and a click, the forge began to shift. Pieces folded out from the sides, mechanics organizing themselves across the expanding surfaces. Exposed gears clanked and turned, unfurling components and shifting the shape of the forge. No longer a cube, the machine had become more of a pyramid, sides folded down and top lifted up. From the top, another pyramidal piece ejected, moving upwards to float above the rest of the forge. With a loud zap, a jagged beam of energy jumped between the down-facing point of the smaller pyramid and the top of the base. The machine emitted another blast of heat, runes glowing white. The heat faded again, runes turning orange. The forge emitted a steady, quiet roar, like the sound of a raging fire.  
“It works!” Monolith crowed, lifting her hands. “Lord Emon’s upkeep must have been flawless. I must commend him on this later.” She walked around to the face of the forge that was pointed at the colossus. Kneeling again, she placed her hand on the flat, metal plate that projected across the sand from the forge. She swiped her hand towards herself across the metal, and with a clatter, the metal plate morphed, sides lifting. Another piece extended from the body of the forge, meeting the rising sides. They formed a square tunnel, pointing at the colossus’ corpse.  
“We don’t need the extractor,” Seln whispered. “I can put myself directly through the input.”  
“That’s what I was thinking,” Monolith agreed. “Let me just set the groundwork…”  
She crossed her forearms in front of her face. Lightning arched down from the sky, striking her spines and redirecting into her fingers. She flung her hands out to her sides, lightning shooting forth and blasting across the sand. The electricity spun outwards, turning a disc of the desert to glass, the forge at its center. She lifted her hands again, called forth more lightning, and began to carve runes into the glass.  
“What are you doing?” Mono called from beyond the disc, craning her neck to try and see the runes. Her hands gripped Agro’s reins tightly.  
“Spelling the ground,” Monolith replied. “It’s a very important step if you want to minimize the chance of something going wrong with machines like this one. The unliving glass separates and isolates the machine from the living earth, and the runes focus rogue energy away from it. As well, they should contain any damaging energies the process produces from spilling into the environment.”  
“Just stay beyond the disc and you’ll be fine,” Seln whispered.  
Monolith completed her journey around the glass disc, coming to a stop on the side of the forge opposing the extrusion tunnel. She summoned her sword to her hand and pushed the tip against the metal panel. Her blade began to glow faintly, pure white light. Agro snorted somewhere behind her, smelling nervous. Mono cursed quietly, and Monolith heard the pair take a few steps back.  
“Get in place, Seln,” she ordered. The pink blob obediently floated to the top of the machine and settled on the flat roof of the inverted pyramid. The blob shuddered and spread out across the surface, mimicking the square shape.  
She gripped the hilt of her blade, which began to glow brighter. Blue sparks began to jump around Seln’s soul, and the beam of electricity between the two pyramids crackled, throwing off bolts of energy.  
 _The converter is leaking energy!_ Monolith noted the excessive sparking. _Of course, not everything could go perfectly…_  
She called the bolts to her, spines on her back glowing blue. The leaked bits shot towards her like miniature bolts of lightning. She absorbed them with an unpleasant tingle and redirected them back down her blade.  
“Brace yourself!” she yelled, and twisted her blade.  
Seln’s soul suddenly vanished, replaced by a sheet of blue sparks across the top of the inverted pyramid. The converter beam glowed pink and increased in diameter. Monolith held her breath.  
The beam returned to its normal color and size. Seln’s soul had successfully passed into the main body of the machine.  
 _Thank goodness._ Monolith exhaled, whiskers drooping. She moved the tip of her blade up the metal panel, contacting a set of runes. The extruder tunnel began to whirr, spirals of pink and white energy building up on the inside. The forge itself was shaking, fast vibrations that couldn’t be seen, only felt. The sand beyond the glass disc was starting to shake, energy radiating outwards in waves. Agro screamed and tossed her head, nearly yanking Mono off her feet.  
A bolt of energy punched out the side of the forge, blasting out one of the runes. Monolith lashed out like a tiger, hand reaching for the bolt. Her fingers closed around the rune, which was hovering strangely in the air like an angry wasp, sparking lines of energy connecting it to the forge. She threw the rune back into the forge, where it slammed into the hole it had left and melded back into the machine.  
The extruder tunnel glowed bright white, becoming impossible to look at. With a roar, a pulse of energy emitted from the mouth of the tunnel and shot towards the colossus’ corpse. It impacted the stone and flashed bright pink. A wave of energy washed backwards from the impact, blasting sand away from the corpse and making the wind blow. The light then vanished.  
Monolith tore her sword from the forge’s control panel and tossed it aside, blade vanishing. She ran to the colossus and knelt, placing a hand on its stone flank.  
“Seln!” she yelled. “Can you hear me?”  
She heard nothing but the wind. Then, she saw a ripple pass over the beast’s skin.  
“IT WORKED!” the colossus roared, voice materializing in the space around it. The monster lifted its head from the sand, body wriggling like a beached fish. Monolith threw herself out of the way of one waving fin, ears ringing.  
“IT WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORKED!” Seln repeated. Monolith clapped her hands over her ears; the air spirit’s voice was deafening. Agro spooked and darted away, ripping the reins out of Mono’s hands and tossing the woman onto the sand. She twisted as she fell, landing on her face to protect the infant on her back.  
“You’re too loud!” Monolith yelled, hands wrapped around her head and eyes nearly shut. “Your body is massive now, you can’t talk as loud as you did when you were a formless soul!”  
“OH, SORRY,” Seln apologized, still way too loud.  
“Quieter!” Monolith ordered.  
“Sorry,” Seln said, voice finally reaching a bearable level. “Is this better?”  
Monolith nodded, slowly prying her hands off her ears. Mono looked up from the sand, face a picture of distress.  
“This feels so good!” Seln exclaimed, wiggling her body. The movement caused the dunes to shake.  
“Seln!” Monolith barked. “You’re over five hundred feet long now. Be cognisant!”  
“Oh, right,” Seln’s massive head slowly turned, passing overhead as she looked down the length of her massive body. “I really shouldn’t sit on the ground like this. I can’t move freely without worrying about hitting something!”  
“The colossus used three sets of gasbags to float,” Monolith told her. “They’re probably deflated right now, but if you can access the colossus’ existing magic, you should be able to reinflate them. You should be able to control your altitude with the gasbags as well. Use your fins to steer.”  
“You think I don’t know how to fly?” Seln asked incredulously. “Flying is all I used to do!” The massive head lifted, and her long forefins slammed into the dunes, propping up the front of her body. The sinuous form lifted from the sand, three clamshell fins on her back lifting. Ripples began to pass down her body, and slowly her rear half began to rise from the ground. All the way to her tailtip, she rose, until her entire body was suspended above the sand, forefins the only contact between her and the earth.  
“I need to dive underground to heal,” Seln said. “Stand back.”  
Monolith tapped a series of runes on the soul forge, which began to fold back up into a cube. She grabbed the white cloth and threw it back over the shrinking machine before picking up the bundle. She scuttled backwards, using her wings to propel herself quickly, feet skating over the sand. She stopped next to the still-prone Mono, reaching down to put a hand on her shoulder.  
“We need to stand clear,” she said. “Are you alright?”  
Mono looked up at her helplessly and yelled “I CAN’T HEAR!”  
Monolith’s head shot up. “Seln! You made her go deaf!”  
“Sorry!” Seln squealed, ducking her head. “I couldn’t tell how loud I was!”  
Monolith helped the woman to her feet and led her away from the colossus. “We’re clear, Seln, just for goodness’ sakes, be careful!”  
The colossus’ nose dipped until it touched the ground, and the beast lunged forwards, piercing the sand. A powerful ripple passed down her body as she propeled herself forwards, blasting sand high into the sky. The earth shook as the beast tunneled into the dunes. Sand swallowed up her tail-tip, leaving the sky full of dust. Moments later, Seln broke from the sand, gasbags rippling as they reinflated. She continued upwards, twirling as she rose, until her entire body was free. Her fins spread and she flattened out, her body a slash of shadow across the sun.  
Mono was watching the beast rise with wide eyes, mouth hanging open. She noticed Monolith glance at her and snapped her jaw shut. With a glare angry enough to melt ice, she crossed her arms and looked away.  
Monolith ducked her head. _Yeesh. So this is my fault, I’m guessing._  
Seln drifted back down to them, forefins touching the sand. She lowered her head until her nose almost touched the sand. Monolith stepped forwards and rested her hand on the beast’s snout, gaze fixed on its three swirling eyes.  
“The colossus is still here,” Seln said happily. “All they want to do is fly and be free. You’ve brought them the life they wished for.”  
Monolith dipped her head. “I feel at peace with this. I killed this beast, but I have righted my wrongs now.”  
“Um, can I have my lightning back now?” Seln asked. “I kinda...need it.”  
“Oh, of course,” Monolith said. She held out her hand and a small blob of pink drifted from her fingers. As it left her body, she felt the three spines on her back crumble into dust, wind taking them away. The power left her, and the pink blob absorbed through Seln’s long nose.  
Energy shot down the colossus’ massive body. The limp, brown fur turned thick and grey; the tannish stone turned the color of marble, pale grey intersected with veins of orange and blue. The central finger on each of the beast’s vertical clamshell fins elongated, stone skin taking on an orangish tint. Seln threw her head up, back arching. Lightning shot from the clouds and struck the three spines, making them glow yellow. The energy rippled up to the curving end of her narrow snout, where it gathered into a sparking ball. Tossing her head, the colossus threw the ball, which shot across the landscape in a blur and struck one of the stone buttes in the desert, exploding across its surface. Mono yelped, covering her ears again.  
“Seln!” Monolith yelled.  
“Sorry!” the colossus apologized. “You know I get excited!”  
The god huffed and shook her head. Mono slowly removed her hands from her ears, looking on the verge of tears.  
“Is your hearing coming back?” the god asked, making sure to be loud. The woman nodded slowly. She looked over her shoulder, reached around, and brought her infant around to her front. The child was staring vacantly into the sky, equally as deafened.  
 _Well, hopefully that’s a good sign._ She glanced across the dunes, where Agro’s figure was still skittering around. They would have to collect the poor horse, who was probably also deafened.  
“There are magics surrounding this place,” Seln said. “I can’t fly beyond the barriers I sense.”  
“All wards have to have roots,” Monolith replied. “Can you tell where the magic emanates from?”  
“Those stone arches,” the colossus replied. “You see, there, there, and there?”  
“I see them,” the god confirmed. “Follow me.”  
She gestured her message to Mono before setting off towards the arch, half-embedded and tilted within the sprawling dunes. It looked just like any other ruin, weathered and cracked, stone bricks barely seeming to hold themselves together. But when Monolith placed her hand upon the surface, she could feel a different kind of magic within it.  
“As I thought, there are wards beneath these arches,” she said. “The stone structure itself casts the magic into the air around it. Destroy the structure, and…”  
She drew her hand back, summoned her sword to her fist, and plunged the blade through the brick. The stone shattered violently, magic sparks shooting from the break. The structure leaned, creaking, and the other pier cracked under the strain. The arch tumbled onto the sand with a poof, and the magic vanished from the air.  
“Ayeeeeeeeeeee!” Seln yelled, lighting arching down to her spines. Energy gathered beneath her fins, and with the clap of thunder, she shot forwards, moving faster than what would seem possible for such a massive beast. She streaked across the sky, lightning and clouds rolling in her wake. Within moments, her form shrank smaller and smaller until she vanished into the clouds.  
Monolith watched the sky, where a glow of light moved beyond the clouds. She gestured for Mono to continue following her. “Come on, we have a couple more uses of this forge before I have to give it back.”  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


	26. Tempered and Forged Pt. 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My college is out for the rest of the semester because of COVID-19. As a last semester senior, this really stinks for a lot of us, but it is what it is and we've got to make the best of it. This story is nearing it's end, so the best of this will be to have the entire thing posted soon. To everyone else affected by this pandemic, I hope you and the people you care about stay healthy and safe. We'll get through this.

Tempered and Forged Pt. 1

Monolith set the soul forge down with a thunk, the metal scraping against the intricately-carved stone of the temple. Around them, the eternal flames burned stiffly in their braziers. The fires were brighter now, and the orange tongues seemed to lean inwards as they flickered, reaching for sources of magic.  
Mono was staring at the slumped body of the small colossus, hands clasped tightly in front of her. With hesitant steps, she approached the beast, stopped before it, and just barely touched it with the palm of her hand.  
“Why are we here for this one?” she asked.  
“I have two more uses for this forge, and they involve this colossus,” Monolith replied. “See, when I talked to your father, I made a couple...promises. He drives a hard bargain, that man, and he wasn’t about to give me information without getting a benefit in return.” She tapped the forge in a few places and it began to unfold under its cloth, filling the room with buzzing.  
“You’re making me nervous,” Mono said cautiously. “Just tell me what you’re here to do.”  
Monolith faced the forge, resting a finger against her chin. “I have two choices. In order to let me borrow his soul forge, Lord Emon requested I do something for him in return, and I offered to bring him one of the colossi, and for the beast to become a guardian of his city. The offer was not thought through as well as it could have been, but with Seln in the form she is, transportation is no longer an issue. And logically, this smallest colossus would be the best suited for a city environment. Seeing how I destroyed the other two small colossi, I have but one choice.”  
“That sounds like my father,” Mono mused. “So you must bring this colossus back to life?”  
“I have to override its original magicks and reprogram them,” the god replied. “I also have a few modifications I would like to make to the beast...and some repairs.”  
“You said you made a couple promises,” the woman pressed. “I have heard only one.”  
Monolith took a deep breath, shutting her eyes. “Hear me out. How has the health of your infant been while I have been gone?”  
Mono frowned, looking over her shoulder at the child. “His cough hasn’t gotten worse...but he seems tired. As I watched your progress along the map, I noticed he got quieter and quieter. I spent time in the rooftop garden, and he usually loves waving and babbling at the birds, but it was like they no longer existed. He just stares at them.”  
“The extra memories his weakened body contains are of no good use to him,” the god said. “They do nothing but sicken and confuse him, it seems. And I think you and I can both agree, he does not belong in this infantile body.”  
“I guess not,” Mono muttered grudgingly. “But he broke nature’s most sacred rule. Some repercussions seem deserved.”  
“The outcome that resulted in this,” Monolith gestured to the infant, “is one of many outcomes that were possible. Dormin chose this and made it so, knowing he was cursing a person to become a helpless infant, and an infant to a life of two minds. Imagine being so vulnerable, and at the same time, living with the scarred memories of another person. Deserved, maybe, it is, but allowing such cruelties makes you no better than the evildoer.”  
Mono was quiet, staring down at the ground with a bowed head. Finally, she spoke quietly, “As far as my father is concerned, I am dead, so I guess I am no longer under his jurisdiction.” She looked up at the god, eyes hardening. “I can make my own decisions now. I no longer have a noble family to bring shame upon, only myself.” She looked away. “I would like it very much if you could untangle this mess. If you could...bring him back. The one who rescued me.”  
“And that I can, given the right materials, power, and time,” Monolith replied, “but one cannot simply snap their fingers and create something as complex as a human body. This will have to be a many-stepped process. And the first step…” she inhaled, shutting her eyes. “I must extract the soul and memories from the child. And a body without a soul will not continue to live.”  
Mono inhaled sharply, expression horrified. “You want to kill a baby?” She took a step back, eyebrows lowering. “What kind of monster are you?”  
“I’m not killing anyone!” Monolith protested. “I’m transferring a soul from one form to another! How is that murderous?”  
“Well, you’re doing it without his permission!” the woman yelled back. “That seems pretty murderous to me!”  
“I can’t ask him for permission, he’s a baby!” Monolith replied hotly, flattening her ears. “And even if I could, I doubt he would understand the situation. You certainly don’t seem to.” She gestured angrily to the soul forge. “This is the only way to undo what Dormin did.”  
Mono stopped, mouth hanging open. She dropped her gaze, slumping her shoulders. “I...maybe I don’t understand. You are a god, after all, and I am just...a human. You have hundreds of years of experience and knowledge that I will never obtain.” She looked away. “I hate the idea of what you’re doing. But if he won’t suffer because of it, then I guess, as his caretaker, I can give you permission.”  
Monolith bowed her head. “He will not suffer. Soul forges were designed for this kind of work, my lady. Did your father ever tell you why these machines were invented?”  
Mono shook her head. “No, of course not. I had to focus on my etiquette and studies; it would do no good to fill my mind with magic and sorcery.”  
Monolith waved her hand over the dormant forge, feeling the heat it gave off. “These machines are ancient. In past times, they were used to create god-touched weapons. A god’s weapon is an extension of their soul, a part of them that always exists, even when unseen. There was a time when a class of human warriors existed, elite beyond anything that exists today. The gods created for them powerful weapons, each of which contained a small fraction of the human’s soul. In that way, the weapons could never be destroyed as long as their owner lived, and they could call them to hand, just like I do with my blade.” She held out her other hand and the hilt appeared in her grasp, firelight dancing off the pale metal. She set the sword onto the ground next to the forge. “As with all things magic, more than one use came of them. People realized that the forges could handle more than just fractions of souls. They could handle whole human souls, and some, even god souls.” She paused reflectively. “Some of these things were found out by accident…but that’s besides the point. Humans came to the gods, asking for new bodies. It started with families, begging for us to save their dying children. And then came the sick, and the old, and the cursed. They had nothing to lose, so they came to us.”  
Mono’s eyes were huge. “But...but does that not break the most sacred laws of nature, which you gods also hold dear?”  
Monolith shook her head. “Nobody died and was brought back to life. But indeed, people began to see that side of it as well. Some of the gods turned against the practice, and many human governments outlawed it. But even still, soul forges were used for such acts, whether by the gods or by powerful sorcerers. It became a dark art, almost. But then, the war came...and the rest is history. The last use of a soul forge was probably by Lord Emon’s ancestors, creating the colossi and sealing Dormin’s soul fragments inside.”  
Mono looked away. “I can tell you’re trying to make me feel better about this. But I don’t.” She reached over her shoulder and brought around the bundled infant, staring at his face. “It seems so wrong to subject a child to something so alien. And no matter how I think of it, he’ll be gone, as if he died…”  
“You shouldn’t be here for this,” the god replied bluntly. “It will do no good for your health.”  
Mono nodded dumbly, eyes falling to the ground. “I will go wait outside. I hope you can do this quickly.”  
Monolith nodded stiffly. “You are acting for the greater good, my lady.”  
“What is good and what is not will always be subjective,” the woman replied, head bowed. “You may think this good, but I see it not so.”  
“I guess we must agree to disagree,” the god said. “But you can trust I would never bring harm to someone so innocent.”  
Mono nodded again, the same hollow movement. “Just...take him and get it over with.” She thrust the infant towards the god, refusing to look at either of them. Monolith recoiled from the sudden wave of salty sadness and acrid anger, emotions bursting out from the woman with such ferocity they almost seemed physical. Mono was stiff as a board, head down and arms shaking. The god slowly reached out and took the child from her. As he left her arms, her whole body drooped and she started to back away, never looking up from the ground.  
Monolith turned away, guilt wrapping itself around her heart. But it had to be done; she had made a promise. If she broke it, the infinity pact would end her life. And this was for good, wasn’t it?  
She reached for the cloth and whisked it from the machine. The volcanic heat poured forth and she turned her back to it, sheltering the infant in her arms until the heat subsided. With one hand, she grasped and turned the set of runes to activate the forge. Just as it did before, it clanked and whirred, panels unfolding. The runes glowed white and the forge heated up once more as the two pyramids connected.  
Monolith held out her hand and summoned her blade, point down. She inserted it into the forge’s control panel and the machine hummed vigorously. The small, inverted pyramid bounced a little, stream of crackling energy oscillating.  
“Seln,” Monolith called, “can I have some light? And could you draw the protective circle, by any chance? My hands are a bit full.”  
“Of course!” the voice echoed from outside. There was a loud crackle and a ball of electricity shot through the mouth of the temple. It bounced to the ground and rolled about the floor, scorching the circle of runes around the forge. It got smaller as it went, until it was just a spark that flickered out within the next heartbeat.  
 _So much faster than drawing or carving into the floor by hand,_ Monolith mused. She turned, extending her free hand towards the light from the outside. Moving her hand in a slow, swirling pattern, she called out to the sand of the small pond beyond. A trickle lifted from the earth and snaked its way up to the temple mouth, floating silently on the wind. She gathered the trickle into her palm, the grains floating just above her skin.   
She held her hand up. “Seln?”  
A bolt of lightning flashed through the temple, striking the swirling ball of sand. Monolith swirled her hand, the red-hot ball spinning like a top. The clap of thunder echoed off the stone walls, filling the temple with reverberations. The infant on her arm started crying weakly, face scrunched up in fear. Monolith quickly shushed it, ears flattening against her head. If Mono heard the child crying...she could sense the woman slipping farther and farther away from her, into her own mute disregard.  
She uncurled her fingers. In her hand was a glass charm, shaped like a teardrop with a twisted top. It was faintly misty in color, but clear enough to see through. Through the top threaded a tiny hole, barely wide enough to be seen. With care, she placed the charm onto the forge’s extrusion plate. With a few taps of the machine, the tunnel vibrated and shrank, constricting down to the charm’s size.  
“Will you be ok in there?” Seln yelled from the outside. “You know soul vessels are tricky business.”  
“I’ve done this before,” Monolith replied. “And I feel like this forge has as well. Sixteen times, at least.”  
She tapped a few runes on the right panel of the forge. It whirred, and the small pyramid slid down the side of the main body, coming to float at an angle just above the grounded plate. She hesitated, looking at the child in her arms.  
 _No. This is for good._ She had never batted an eye at soul transfers before. But to have such vehemence revealed to her in the face of Mono...she had never thought about how these magicks could bring about such anger.  
She ground her teeth together and set the child down on the plate, next to the flat top of the inverted pyramid. As her warm touch receded, the infant started to cry weakly, arms flailing.  
“Please, be quiet…” she whispered, face dejected. She took a step back towards her sword, standing upright in the control panel. The baby continued to cry, and she stopped. Sighing, she dropped her head and knelt. Taking the hilt of her sword in one hand, she placed the other across the infant. The touch calmed him, and he opened his eyes, staring up at the god.  
“I’m doing this for you,” she said quietly, feeling a lump in her throat. “You deserve your true body, not this one.” She reached up and touched one claw to one of the child’s horns. “Even if we can never get rid of these.”  
Squeezing her eyes shut, she pulled down on her sword and the forge began to glow.  
Beams of white light reached out from the inverted pyramid, connecting with the infant’s skin. The child’s eyes went wide at the unknown sensation and he started to whimper. Monolith stroked his cheek with a finger, feeling the magicks sparking off her own skin. If she remained in the path of the extraction, she could upset the entire process.  
She pulled her hand away, grabbing onto her other bicep with lack of anything else to hold on to. The child protested, hands waving. The white light was slowly covering him, sparks dancing in bands across his skin. They moved forwards until they contacted each other on the far side, and then they began to recede.  
Blue light began to mix in to the white, a faint, pale color. The sparks receded further, pulling more strands from the tiny body. Slowly, his cries got quieter and his movements weaker. His hands stopped waving and he stared up at the ceiling with a vacant gaze.  
Monolith looked away. _It worked._  
She twisted her sword and the white sparks jumped back into the pyramid. The blue light congealed into a ball atop the metal, which began to rise back up the main body of the forge. It returned to its original position and clicked into place, powerful beam surging forth once more between the two pyramids.  
Monolith turned back to the infant on the extraction plate. He was still, laying atop his swadlings, skin pale as the cloth. She put her hand across his tiny chest, and felt no heartbeat.  
She bowed her head. “I have fulfilled my part of the bargain, Lord Emon.”  
The constriction around her heart fell away. The infinity pact had been fulfilled; she had killed the infant that was once Wander. That was how infinity pacts worked; the terms were set by the last words of agreement spoken. And she had spoken, and Lord Emon had not challenged her words. So her loophole remained. But Mono still resented her; she would either way.  
The thick converter beam pulsed, turning blue. The color passed through much quicker than Seln’s had, the soul in question now only a fraction of the air spirit’s in size. At least that part was easy.  
Monolith moved her blade up the panel, activating the proper runes. The extrusion tunnel began to clank, white energy swirling inside of it. The floor was vibrating, dust shaking from the higher reaches of the temple. The light built until it was blinding. Then, a beam of pure blue shot forth from the tunnel, narrow like a laser. It contacted the glass charm with a zap; the object rocked in its position, threatening to roll backwards off the plate. Monolith smacked a rune and three metal prongs shot up from the plate, holding the charm in place.   
_I hate using the stabilizers...way too often we lose pieces of souls to those dastardly things. But it’s better than losing the whole soul when the vessel rolls out of the beam…_  
The extruder was winding down, glow fading. Monolith left her position at the control panel and walked up to the charm. It was glowing blue on the inside now, blue with a core of yellow. She picked it up; it was warm like a sun-kissed stone.  
 _It is done._ She closed her fist around the charm and brought it to her chest, bowing her head as she did. Within the roar of the braziers around her, she took a moment of silence.  
After the moment had passed, she lifted her head, eyes locating the dead body of the horned infant. As she watched, the horns blurred around the edges and turned to dust, black particles that drifted away on the wind. She felt the energy within the charm waver for a heartbeat, growing cold. But then the dust was gone, and the warmth returned.  
But her work was only half finished. She walked back to the control panel, resting her free hand on the pommel of her sword. “By the power the earth has invested in me, and by the energy I wield, I command this beast before me, forged in the heart of magic, to return to life. Return, creature of the earth, being of my domain, and bow to your true master.”  
She thrust her blade forwards across the panel. Energy surged forth from within her own being, the feeling not unlike being struck by lightning, but in reverse. She reached her power down into the earth, feeling all the energy around her, and drew upon it. The energy passed through her blade and into the forge; the extrusion tunnel swelled, rattling. A burst of static shot from the side of the forge; Monolith ducked, barely dodging the blow, which struck some invisible barrier at the edge of the circle burned into the floor and burst into tiny sparks. Her swordpoint danced across the forge’s panels, quickly redirecting energy away from the break. The extrusion tunnel glowed blinding white, and a ball of energy was shot into the still body of the colossus.  
The forge emitted a large cloud of magical smoke and, with the sound of grinding gears, began to wind down, light and sound diminishing. Monolith lifted her sword off the control panel, adopting a defensive stance.  
The colossus was up on its feet on the other side of the forge, shoulders hunched and head towards the ground, as if it was winded. Slowly, it lifted its head, iridescent blue eyes fixing on Monolith.   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	27. Tempered and Forged Pt. 2

Tempered and Forged Pt. 2

The god tensed, glaring back at the newly-revived colossus. Her power had re-instilled life to its magic, but she had yet to find out if her command had overwritten it’s prior enchantments.  
 _If this didn’t work, and I have to fight it again..._  
Gingerly, the colossus lowered its head. It slid its forefeet out and lowered its body into a subordinate position, nose nearly contacting the carved-stone floor.  
“You may rise,” Monolith ordered. The colossus slowly lifted itself up, eyes once again fixing on the god. Satisfied, she tapped a sequence of runes on the forge. It folded itself up, belching another cloud of smoke as it went. The tiny, dead body of the child was rolled off the panel, discarded by the forge as if it was nothing more than the scrap of cloth it was swaddled in.  
Monolith winced. _I guess sitting in storage for over two thousand years does no good for any kind of machine, magic or not._ Hopefully, Lord Emon wouldn’t be too angry.  
She opened her hand, staring down at the glowing charm she held. She had enough secrets to keep from that man already.  
She knelt and began to bundle the forge back up. Her eyes slowly drifted to the tiny, dead body cast off to the side, and she ground her teeth together, forcing herself to look away.  
 _Does Mono want to see it again? Or will it bring her too much anguish? Humans have ceremonies for their dead, but that he is not! ...Right?_ She clutched the charm in her hand, feeling the warmth. He was in there, memories and soul. He was not dead.  
She stood, head bowed. Walking up to the child, she knelt and lifted the tiny body. It was pale as a ghost and limp as a rag doll; it weighed almost nothing. The god shut her eyes tight. She could throw the body into the brazier; the eternal flames burned away everything, leaving nothing. Mono would never know; she could tell her the process destroyed the body. She wouldn’t have to face her again, in all that anguish.  
 _But I should at least give that choice to her to make, shouldn’t I?_  
Grimacing, she lifted her head and faced the entrance of the temple.  
“Mono,” she called, “would you like to bury the child?”  
No response came from outside. She looked away, grinding her teeth together. If the woman did not answer, what was the right thing to do?  
Then, a faint voice drifted from outside, “That would be the respectful thing to do.”  
Monolith dipped her head. “As you wish.” She pulled the swaddlings over the body, covering it from sight. Looking over her shoulder, she gestured for the colossus to follow her. It did so obediently, each step a heavy thunk against the carved-stone floor.  
They emerged from the mouth of the temple, beams of sunlight spilling across them. Monolith blinked, eyes adjusting to the bright light; the grey clouds had receded yet further. She set the forge down and placed the small bundle on top of it, eyes searching the ground beyond.  
Mono was sitting on the sand of the narrow beach around the still pond. She was facing away from the temple, arms wrapped around her knees. She didn’t move as the god approached.  
“I have this for you,” the god said, holding out the charm. The woman slowly turned her head, one red-rimmed eye coming into view.  
“What is it?” she asked quietly.  
“Wander’s essence, his soul and memories, are held inside here,” Monolith replied. “Here, take it. It belongs more to you than to me.”  
The woman reached out slowly. Her shaking fingers wrapped around the glass, lifting it from the god’s palm. She withdrew her arm and clasped her hands against her chest, eyes shut. A sob escaped her lips and she curled up into a ball again, forehead nearly touching her knees.  
Monolith shut her eyes, calling into the earth. The ground below was rich in ores and long-buried godly metalwork, plunged into the ground by the cataclysmic war. She lifted a hand, drawing a snaking line of matter from the earth. The dirt split as the iron worm pushed itself to the surface and rose obediently, sunlight reflecting off of it. Monolith reached down and grabbed it, rotating her hand to coil the strands. She brushed the dirt from its surface, weaved it between her fingers, and pulled it tight. She twisted them into a braid and fired them with her energy; they glowed red momentarily as the impurities were scorched away and the strands fused into their more artistic form. She waved her hand over the metal and the heat dissipated instantly.   
Mono looked back up at her, drawn to the noise of her crafting. The god knelt, reaching out with the braided strand. She threaded it through the small hole in the top of the glass charm and bound the free ends together behind the woman’s neck.  
She took Mono’s clasped hands in hers. “Carry him with you until you may be together again,” she said quietly. Standing back up, she turned from the woman and walked away, back towards the forge. The colossus was standing stoically next to it, watching her as she approached.  
“Let’s fix you up,” she said to the beast. She placed one hand on its face, between its eyes. It stared at her unblinkingly. She frowned, staring back at it. It was a bit unnerving.  
 _Without a real soul inside of you...you are just a construct, without any essence of your own. The only thing that defines you right now is your obedience to my orders._  
Stone crumbled from the natural rock faces around them, peeling away in small chunks. Monolith gathered them to her and laid them over the colossus’ furry, exposed back, replacing armor once lost. The colossus’ stone was green-grey with moss; this new armor was red sandstone, starkly different in color and free from the wear of time. It intertwined with the old, red-orange stripes reaching out into the grey and green. All of its chips, cracks, and breaks were repaired, turning the beast into a subtle mosaic.  
Monolith drew her hand down the beast’s spine, feeling where the magic was bundling under its back. _No use in having the weak point in the same place...That makes fighting it too easy._ She urged the magic to reform in another place. She drew it by her hand to the colossus’ left flank, then up to its armpit. With a surge of her own power, she shrank the knot until the weak point was as small as she could make it. Satisfied, she stepped back, wiping dust off her hands.  
“Looks much better now,” Seln commented. The giant air spirit was hovering low overhead, body gently undulating. She turned her head a little, eyeing the recovered colossus curiously, as if wondering what it thought of her.  
There was a shuffling noise behind her; Mono had stood. “You never told me the second promise you made,” the woman said quietly.  
The god looked over her shoulder. “Why does it matter?”  
“Of course it matters,” the woman said darkly, “because obviously, you don’t want to tell me.”  
Monolith inhaled through her teeth, grimacing. “I don’t want to upset you. The promise has been fulfilled now, and nothing will change it.”  
“Guys, please,” Seln said in a small voice from above, ribbonlike body shuddering a little. “Don’t fight about this.”  
“I’d like to know it anyways,” the woman replied, ignoring Seln. Her eyes were glaring right through the god in front of her. “I think I have the right to know.”  
“So you can just be more angry at me?” Monolith asked, turning away. “It’s not worth it, Mono.”  
“TELL me, you ridiculous creature!” the woman yelled, balling up her fists. “What did you do?”  
“I made and infinity pact!” the god yelled back, ears flattening against her head. “Lord Emon wouldn’t give me the location he sent the Ancient Sword to unless I did. I agreed to, word for word, ‘kill the infant that was Wander’. And he agreed, so I had to fulfill my part of the bargain, or die.”  
Mono’s hands dropped, gaze going vacant and horrified. “You agreed...to kill a child?”  
“Oh, for all that is holy!” Monolith roared, clapping her hands over her face. “I haven’t killed anyone, when will you get that into your head? I did what I had to, damnit! It was what needed to be done to get to Dormin, to destroy him!” she threw her hands down and snarled at the woman, speaking through bared teeth. “Once again, you humans only see what is in front of you! You never see the bigger picture, never!” She marched back to the soul forge and plucked the small bundle from the top of it, meaning to tear a hole in the ground and have the earth swallow it up so she didn’t have to face it anymore. But as soon as her hands were cradling the rough cloth, she couldn’t bring herself to do it anymore.  
 _Argh!_ She threw her head back, glaring into the glowing sky. Her whiskers drooped past her eyes, twitching as they sensed the acrid smell of her own rage and grief. She shut her eyes. _I can’t end this. Why can’t I end this?_  
Something touched her chest. She opened her eyes to see one of Seln’s massive forefins reaching down to her. The giant spirit had placed the tip of her fin against the top of her stone chestpiece, and had coiled her body around in the sky above, looking down upon her through three liquid eyes. “You’re right to be upset by this, Monolith,” the air spirit said quietly. “You care about your goals, and about the end you’re trying to reach. But you care about what you’re doing to get there too. It’s ok to be upset by what had to be done.” The spirit brought another forefin down and touched the earth before Mono. “You’re both right. You both care. But one of you only sees the journey, and the other the destination. You have to see both. It makes you a better person to be that way, to see both the journey and the destination.”  
Monolith stared vacantly up at the air spirit. “And I guess you would be the expert on journeys.”  
“Journeys are about more than just travelling,” Seln replied. “You know this as well as I do.”  
The god shut her eyes and let her head drop. It didn’t make it very far before her chin encountered the top of Seln’s fin, the stop jarring her teeth a little. She grumbled inaudibly and pushed the fin away with her free hand. Seln withdrew, floating a little higher in the sky with concern shining in her eyes.  
Monolith stared down at the bundle in her hand and sighed. “You said you would like to bury him.”  
Mono looked up, hands gripping the glass charm. “Y-yes. I would like to.”  
The god strode up to her, never lifting her eyes to look at her. She held out the cloth. “Take him. Bury him where you think will bring you the most peace.”  
The woman held out her shaking hands and accepted the bundle. “I...do you know the tree we passed on the way here? The fruiting tree, standing in a patch of green within the desert?”  
Monolith nodded. “I know of where you speak.”  
“I would like to bury him there,” Mono said, looking down at the bundle. “It is a spot of beauty hidden within the sands. I cannot think of anyplace more peaceful.”  
The god bowed her head. “Lead us there, my lady. Put him to rest however you see proper. I will say no more on this.”  
“As you wish,” Mono said cooly, turning away. The dejected god watched her go, crossing the sandbar she had risen from the pond. Seln floated upwards, her massive shadow drifting out of the canyon. She turned, ripples travelling down her ribbon-like body, and slowly floated away. The god was left alone, soul forge and colossus sitting statically behind her.   
_It wasn’t worth it fighting with her. But why can she not see the end beyond it all? Will she ever? And if not, is that something I can accept about her? Something I can accept about all of humanity? Or is it just me?_  
She walked back to the soul forge and picked it up, feeling the warmth of magic against her hands. The colossus’ head turned slightly, gaze following her. She looked back at it, seeing only empty magic swirling in its eyes.  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
And so, they buried the infant. Monolith dug the tiny grave and Mono set the body inside, kneeling before the site with tears in her eyes. Seln floated overhead, nose tipped towards the ground. Agro stood just beyond the tree; her head was lowered, almost as if she too was mourning. The only creature who stood without emotion was the colossus; it remained where Monolith had ordered it to stop, unmoving. Its blue-glowing eyes never left her.  
Mono uttered a burial rite, some short, human ceremony that Monolith felt completely disconnected from. No souls had been lost, no beings had truly left this world. No spirit needed safe passage, no afterlife was being sought. Why did she still say these things?  
 _It’s not worth it…_  
Once the woman had completed her speech, Monolith rolled the soil back over the grave, filling it in and creating a small mound. With another wave of her hand, she plucked a stone from the earth and settled it at the head of the mound. Mono had said that humans liked to mark their graves with many different things nowadays, but for this, just an old stone would do.  
“What do you want me to write on it?” the god asked, words drifting from her mouth as if they were under someone else’s control.  
“May you finally find peace,” the woman replied. Robotically, Monolith knelt before the grave and reached out to the rock. With one claw she carved out the words, stone melting away before her touch. Smooth, black script was left behind.  
“Do you need some time?” the god asked. “You humans have a lengthy mourning process you go through, right?”  
The woman stood up. “Some of us do, but everyone handles grief in different ways.” She wiped her eyes. “You are ready to rush off to your next destination, aren’t you?”  
Monolith’s whiskers twitched, sensing the woman’s dull emotions. “Yes I am, in fact. The Ancient Sword must be retrieved before any of Dormin’s underlings gain enough power to figure out where it is, and take it for themselves.”  
“Lord Emon sent that sword to the place he deemed the safest,” Mono replied. “Wherever that may be, I know he would not take chances with it. Where did he send it to, anyways?”  
“An ancient, cursed monastery,” the god told her. “Somewhere he believes the rest of the world knows nothing about.”  
“He was probably right about that,” Mono sighed. “It was certainly somewhere he never told me about.”  
“I think you should - well, I guess I should let you choose, “ Monolith stuttered. “Would you like to come with me?”  
The woman sighed and dropped her head. “Part of me is curious. But part of me is still weighed down. I do not think I am ready to embark on a journey potentially so dangerous. And I would just slow you down.”  
The god dipped her head. “Fair enough. I will be leaving the colossus with you for now, if that is alright. I will order it to remain in the Shrine and it will not bother you.”  
“That’s fine,” Mono waved her hand dismissively. “Do as you like.”  
Monolith turned to the colossus. “Go to the Shrine and wait inside. If Mono requires your assistance or protection, you must help her.” The colossus stood stiffly, turned, and started to walk away, each step thunking heavily against the ground.  
“Can I come with you?” Seln asked, floating closer to the ground. “Please? I can be really helpful, and I have never seen a haunted monastery before!”  
“You can come,” Monolith told her. “You won’t be able to go inside any buildings, though.”  
“Of course I know that!” the giant spirit scoffed. “I’m aware of how large I am. I just want to see it!”  
“Very well,” the god sighed. She walked over to the soul forge and picked it up. “I need to drop this off in the Shrine. Then we can go.”  
She began to walk towards the Shrine, holding the cloth-wrapped forge gingerly in her hands; after three uses, the machine was beginning to get uncomfortably hot. It would need to cool down for a few days before it could be used safely again. She didn’t want to melt Lord Emon’s forge.  
“Are we leaving now?” Seln asked, zooming overhead. “You should fly with me! I’m ready! And I’m fast, you’ll see!”  
“As I’ve seen,” Monolith replied, slightly impatient. “But you have no idea where we’re going.”  
“You can, uh, navigate, right?” Seln suggested, tilting a little in the sky. One forefin dropped close to Monolith, close enough she probably could have jumped and grabbed it. “You just tell me where to go!”  
“We need to approach this place with caution,” the god continued, frowning up at the air spirit. “As I can recall, you tend to just...barrell into things.”  
“Pleeeeeeeeeeeease,” Seln begged. “Come on, Monolith, give me a chance! I’ll be really good. And you want to get to this place fast, don’t you?”  
“Time is of the essence,” the god admitted. “So we’re just going to go to the monastery, that’s it. No side trips, no getting distracted by sparkly clouds or whatever. You got it?”  
Seln scoffed, rolling back upright. “Since when were you under the impression I got distracted by sparkly clouds?”  
Monolith hunched her shoulders a little, feeling suddenly self-conscious. “Well, I guess I just made that up. I’m not exactly in a great mood.”  
“Riding with me will make you feel better,” Seln promised. “I’ll get you to this sword and then we’ll kick Dormin’s butt!”  
“That certainly would make me feel better,” Monolith admitted. “Alright, Seln. You’ve got a deal.”  
“Yippee!” the spirit crowed, body rippling. “Spooky old monastery, here we come!”  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------


	28. Haunted Earth Pt. 1

Haunted Earth Pt. 1

Wind whistled past Seln’s body with speed enough to pluck the feathers off a chicken (or at least that’s how it felt). Monolith was hunkered down on the spirit’s back, behind one of her dorsal fins. She was close enough to the air spirit’s head that she could hear her if she yelled, but only if she yelled at the top of her lungs. The wind, otherwise, was too loud.  
Seln herself was contributing just as much to the noise. The air spirit had gathered a shelf of clouds around herself, and every so often thunder would clap around them, Seln using lightning to boost herself forwards. Or sideways, or downwards, or upwards. While Monolith would have considered a straight line of flight to be the most efficient, Seln apparently did not. The air spirit was ducking and dodging, dipping and turning, and bouncing through the air. Every time she gathered lightning around herself, everything went white for a moment as she leapt forwards. Her jump only lasted a second, but what was below them before was now far behind them. They would emerge in eerie silence, and then sound would catch up to them, a ringing crack.  
Monolith had pulled a living membrane of stone up from Seln’s back and connected it to the edges of the dorsal fin she was hunkered under. The makeshift walls cut down the wind enough that she no longer had fear of being plucked right off the spirit’s back. Out of curiosity, she had summoned her sword a few times and set it different lengths away from her lean-to shelter. Most of the time, the wind grabbed the weapon right away and chucked it into the void, even when it was only a foot from Monolith’s toes. It was a little unsettling.  
“We would have gotten to this place already, if you would just fly normal!” she yelled after what felt like the fiftieth random drop in altitude.   
“But this is more fun!” Seln called back, voice intertwined with the wind. “Flying normally is boring!”  
“I prefer to keep my stomach out of my mouth,” Monolith retorted. “You’re making me nauseous.”  
“Wait, really?” the spirit stabilized. “I didn’t know major gods could get nauseous!”  
“Oh, for all that is holy,” Monolith growled. “Why did I ever agree to fly on you?”  
“Because I could get to our destination way faster than you could, even without going in a boring, straight line like you think we should,” Seln retorted. “In fact, isn’t that the mountain range we’re looking for?”  
Monolith risked a peek around the edge of her shelter. Up ahead, stone peaks reached for the sky, rising from the surrounding forests and meadows. These mountains were part of the chain that cut off the Forbidden Lands from the rest of the world, but here they curved northwards, and then back south, forming a cluster of peaks. The highest ones, in the middle, were always covered in snow.  
“We’re looking for a mountain with a very large, sheer section, probably with an equally large boulder field below it,” Monolith yelled. “It isn’t tall enough to have year-round snow, at least not much of it. The monastery is almost at the top of the mountain and may be visible from the air.”  
“You’re the expert on earthly things,” Seln replied. “You look for the mountain, I’ll fly us lower.”  
The spirit started to descend towards the incoming peaks. Heavy, dark clouds were gathered far to the west, on the other side of the mountain chain. The clouds would be forced upwards by the peaks, and would rain themselves out long before reaching the other side. The result was one side of the range that was moist and tropical, and the other that was scrubby and dry. The earth below them was brown and grey, the closest one could get to a desert in a temperate climate.  
“The map of the mountains placed the monastery as northeast of the central peaks,” Monolith said. “We should be getting close to it.”  
The air spirit rounded over a peak. More mountains sprawled before them, steadily rising towards the glaciers above.  
“There!” Monolith’s eyes spotted the sun reflecting off of sheer stone. The mountain rose before them, a round-topped form with a face so sheer, it looked as if a giant sword had sliced it in half. The stone was completely smooth, streaked in places with black mosses and bands of quartz. The size of the avalanche must have been unprecedented; nearly one-third of the mountain had dropped into the valley below, filling it with massive boulders. Monolith could see the boulder field, filling the space below for miles and miles. Lord Emon’s story could not have been more correct; with the valley filled, and no other passes available to connect the mountain to the foothills, the monastery was completely cut off from the world.  
 _There is evidence of many other, smaller rockfalls along the valley, the god observed. I wonder if those were formed when the humans were trying to clear a path up the mountain, to rescue the survivors…_  
There was no way the rockfall had been natural.  
They topped the rounded mountain, Seln staying well above its peak. The stone curved downwards until it met the rest of the mountain, which was jagged with boulders and ridges. In short, it looked like a regular mountain, but the stone dome seemed totally unnatural.  
“There’s the monastery!” Monolith said, pointing to the backside of the dome. Nestled onto the rounded surface was a cluster of ruins. They looked normal enough.  
“I don’t wanna get too close,” Seln whimpered. “The air here feels strange.”  
“Take us down to the base of the dome, then,” Monolith ordered. “We won’t be that close, and I can’t understand any more about this place from the air.”  
Seln curved away from the ruins and descended towards the mountainside. Once off the dome, the terrain became rugged and dotted with scraggly bushes. The farther down they went, the more life there was.  
Seln halted above a relatively-flat section of the mountain, drifting low enough for her pectoral fins to touch the ground. Monolith stood and extracted herself from her shelter. Stepping out into the sun, she squinted, trying to spot the ruins.  
“I can’t see the place,” she said, frustrated. “Seln, did you really have to take us so far away?”  
“I didn’t!” the spirit protested. “I can’t see it either, Monolith, but I didn’t go that far!”  
The god slid down Seln’s pectoral fin and bounded up the slope to a large boulder. Deftly, she swung herself to the top, standing up tall. She stretched her neck out, trying to spot the smooth slope of the broken dome.  
A strange ripple crossed part of her vision as she moved her head. She froze, looking towards the spot where she had seen the ripple. Nothing was there.  
She narrowed her eyes and looked away. There, in her periphery, the ripple appeared. It was situated beyond the crag fields, where the rock became smooth.  
“I think I know where the monastery is,” she said.  
“Oh boy,” Seln quailed, floating a little closer to the ground. “Can you not feel the energy, Monolith?”  
“I can’t feel anything, not yet,” the god replied, “but I can see something. Follow me.”  
She hopped down from the boulder and began to pick her way through the rocks. Seln followed her closely, like a five-hundred-foot-long dog.   
“What kind of curse do you think is on this monastery?” the air spirit asked. “It...it feels cold, colder than it should be.”  
Monolith glanced over her shoulder. “We are very high up in a mountain, Seln. It’s supposed to be cold.”  
“I’ve flown with the cirrus clouds,” Seln retorted. “I know how cold it should be, Monolith, and it doesn’t feel right.”  
Monolith resisted rolling her eyes. “Well, it being cold could mean a lot of things. A frost giant, ice phoenix, or a bunch of ghosts. Or one very, very upset ghost.”  
“Can you free ghosts?” Seln asked. “They make me so sad...imagine being stuck somewhere, unable to leave, without your body? And all you have the capacity to do is drift around…”  
“I can free ghosts,” Monolith replied, “but I have to fight them to do it. The curse that turns a human into a ghost is very strong, and that magic will fight with everything it has. It’s like trying to pry a giant shark off someone’s arm with only one hand.”  
“You sound like you speak from experience,” Seln chuckled.  
Monolith frowned, raising an eyebrow. “You know as well as every other god that has ever existed that I was attacked by a shark once. Once.”  
“Everyone talked about it for weeks,” Seln snorted. “The great Monolith, god of earth and sea, nearly bested by a mortal shark.”  
“I’m glad you can laugh at my expense,” the god muttered, flattening her ears. “And for your information, I was not ‘nearly bested’. I was trying to get it off me without killing it because I’m a nice deity.”  
She crested the steep slope, rounded another boulder, and the smooth dome rose before her, like a strange creature’s arched back. The wind blew down the surface and across the crags, carrying shreds of cloud with it. The pale fragments dissipated as they rolled down the smooth rock, just barely dusting the top of the dome with vapor.  
Nestled on the dome’s slope, about one-third of the way up, were the ruins. Their image was misty and distorted, and if Monolith looked at them head-on, they nearly vanished. She spotted a set of carved stairs winding down the dome from the spot.  
“Can you see it?” she asked Seln.   
“Yeah,” the air spirit replied, sounding nervous. “I can see it if I look out of the corner of my eye.”  
“I can see stairs,” the god said, “but Lord Emon suggested approaching from the air.” She lifted her wings from her back and jumped upwards. Beating her wings, she flew up to Seln, hovering to the left of her long snout. “Be ready with lightning, Seln.”  
“Okee dokee,” the spirit muttered, gasbags on her belly fluttering nervously.  
Monolith curved a wing and flew towards the ruins. The illusion around the place diminished as she rose in altitude; apparently, whoever had disguised the location hadn’t thought about it being approached from the air.  
 _Lord Emon would seem to know what he’s talking about, then._ Monolith stopped above the ruins, about two hundred feet up. She could see the backside of the illusory magic, which was form-fitting around the very edges of the place.  
She frowned. _Why disguise the buildings, but not the stairs leading to them?_  
Even the most powerful gods and sorcerers made mistakes, but an entire staircase was a large detail to miss.  
“Stay sharp, Seln,” she ordered. “Something seems off about this place.”  
“Oh, now you think so,” Seln muttered darkly.  
Monolith descended cautiously, watching for signs of movement within the ruins. Despite how isolated the place was, the compound was quite large and contained many buildings. The entire ruin was circled by a crumbling wall. It would have kept out bad weather and roaming creatures during its time, but now it was riddled with holes and scraggly moss.  
Monolith’s feet touched the frozen ground. She lowered her wings and lifted her hands defensively, watching the shadows. Nothing moved.  
“Stay above, Seln,” she said. “If I yell, be ready to cover me.”  
“Please be careful,” the spirit begged.  
Monolith summoned her sword to her hand. The blade flashed into existence, harsh mountain light reflecting off the pale metal. She turned its point towards the earth and pushed it into the soil. Cold flowed up the metal and into her hands; she cursed and yanked her blade free. Frost had formed on the surface; as soon as it lost contact with the ground, the frost melted. Or rather, it vanished. No water was left behind.  
She gritted her teeth and looked down at her feet. Frost was clinging to the edges of her stone sandals, and as she watched, it slowly crept up their sides. She jumped into the air. As soon as she lost contact, the frost vanished.  
“I think I know what happened to the people who were here,” she said grimly. “It was curious, I thought, how Lord Emon said nobody ever made it down the mountain. The path from here to the rockslide is intact, and going down would have been easier than going up.” She scanned the ruins. “Hopefully Lord Emon’s spell aimed true, and the sword is here. And hopefully, I can find it quickly.”  
She set back down on the ground, noticing how the ice immediately grew onto her feet. She couldn’t feel the cold, though.   
She shut her eyes and extended her consciousness through the ground around her. The monastery housed many underground chambers, for food storage and otherwise. She could feel the emptiness in the ground, where rock gave way to air. Beneath the temple were many rooms, and if she applied her knowledge of human construction to this...  
An artifact room. Those were usually under the main religious buildings. And there was something else, a pocket of...cold. She couldn’t focus on it; every time she did, she felt her mind slow down.  
She opened her eyes and looked at her feet. The frost was at her ankles. Annoyed, she jumped back into the air and shook the ice off. It was unsettling, seeing something covering her skin that she couldn’t feel.  
“There’s an artifact room beneath the temple,” she called to Seln. “I’m going in there. Be ready to blast the roof off the place if you have to.”  
She flew towards the crumbling temple, its importance signified by its central position, rising dome, and circular shape. As she passed between the exterior columns, she felt cold radiating off the marble. When she looked, she could see frost on the surface.  
It was probably why the whole place hadn’t fallen down yet. The magic was literally freezing the stone together. The entire building was suspended in cold stasis.  
The shadow of the roof fell over her as she entered the exterior circle of the temple. Part of the central dome had collapsed, including part of the interior wall that separated the altar from the outside. She passed through the gap and came to hover above the altar. All of its niches, which would have been inhabited by statuettes of patron gods, were empty.  
She felt a chill pass through her. Did her statue once occupy a place here?  
The way into the basement of the temple was covered by a trapdoor on the exterior of the room, wood shriveled and covered in frost. Monolith flew over to it and caught the handle on the tip of her blade. She pulled and the frozen hinges snapped like twigs, revealing a spiral staircase leading into darkness. Cold radiated up the stairs, frost forming on the ends of the god’s whiskers. She backed away, cursing quietly. She pawed the ice off her whiskers, feeling her sense of emotion return. Not that there was much to feel in this place…  
She approached the trapdoor cautiously, eyes piercing through the darkness. The stairs led downwards to a stone floor, the entire basement carved into the rock of the mountain. Unlit braziers lined the walls.  
 _Having Casper’s firepower would be good for this._ She felt herself wishing her friend was by her side. He could melt away the cold magic that was currently icing her extremities.  
An artifact room was a likely place to send a magical object. After all, those places were often outfitted to handle magical energy, and were defendable from raiders. Hopefully, Lord Emon followed such logic.  
She slowly began to lower herself through the trapdoor, trying not to touch any of the surfaces. At her size, it was near impossible, and she gave up after a few moments, letting her feet touch the marble stairs. Hastily, she ducked beneath the doorframe and scuttled down the stairs. Once she was in the basement, she could fly again, but even as her feet left the ground, she could still feel the cold creeping in on her.  
 _I’ve got to be quick about this._ She was strong, and the magic struggled to grab her, but eventually, she would start to freeze. The temperature in the basement was so low her breath fogged and turned into snow.  
She looked around. The basement was not very large; there were only two doors out of this place. She chose the one on the left and floated over to it. With her sword, she pushed the door inwards. The hinges creaked horrifically loud, but held.  
Something moaned behind her. She glanced over her shoulder, spotting the near-transparent ghost floating in the shadows. The faceless form froze when her eyes locked onto it. She lifted her sword, ready to dispatch the trapped soul if it decided to fight. The ghost backed away, knowing this was a fight it couldn’t win.  
She turned away. The ghost made a small, sad noise somewhere to her right, where it had huddled into a corner. She frowned, feeling her eyes drawn back to the poor being.  
 _I guess it won’t take too long to free this one…_  
She lunged at the ghost, sword lifted. Blue energy immediately flew around the ghost, darting at her like a spear. She dodged the blast and cleaved it off near the base, where it had projected from the ghost’s chest. The magic spluttered out immediately, the ghost clawing at where the beam had sprung from it. Deftly, Monolith thrust her sword into the spot, spearing the last bit of magic. Blue veins radiated from the point, the curse fighting to keep hold of its host. The poor ghost flailed and cried, unable to do anything but try to struggle free.  
Monolith twisted her blade and jerked her arm backwards, freeing herself from the ghost. The last bit of magic fizzled out on the end of her blade and the ghost stilled. Slowly, it drifted upwards. When it encountered the stone, it passed right through and vanished.  
Monolith bowed her head. “Go in peace.” The freed soul would be able to leave this world now, and rejoin the sacred cycle, where it would become life anew.  
She looked down at her hands. Frost was lining her fingers.  
 _I’ve wasted my time. I need to keep moving._  
She passed through the open doorway. The round room before her had niches carved into the walls, many of them holding objects; it was what she was looking for. She drifted into the center of the room, searching for the glint of the Ancient Sword.  
“Looking for something?”  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	29. Haunted Earth Pt. 2

Haunted Earth Pt. 2

The voice was cold as the frost lining the stone and harsh like jagged rocks, completely nonhuman. Monolith lifted her blade defensively, turning her body to face the voice. A blue glow appeared in the darkness and a spectral figure appeared, a ragged black shape edged in dark blue. It was the size of a human, and had a face pale as the moon, but Monolith could make no features of it. The entity, whatever it was, held a short, gold scepter in one pale hand. It was from the scepter that the extreme cold radiated.  
“Who are you?” the god demanded. “You have no right to interfere with heavenly business.”  
“Heavenly business?” the apparition cackled. “I have all the right. Dormin promised me eternal life, and he has yet to follow through on his words!”  
Monolith narrowed her eyes. “So you’re one of his pathetic followers, then? Strange, seeing how long ago the war was. You seem to have found eternal life already.”  
“This is no life,” the apparition spat. “I am barely substantial. I cannot eat; I cannot drink. I cannot sleep. And all I feel is cold!”  
“Dormin is not going to be fulfilling his promise,” Monolith spoke levelly. “I will destroy him before he can. And if you stand in my way, I will destroy you too.”  
The apparition laughed. “I would have freed Dormin by now if it would have been any use to me. But that cursed sword will not let me touch it. The light magic inside of it is too powerful. But if I inhabit your body, I am sure to be able to handle it. I will free Dormin, and he will repay me with immortality!”  
“Good luck with that,” Monolith growled. “No ghost can take my body from me.”  
“But I am no ghost!” the apparition cried. “I am so much more. And the cold weakens you bit by bit, while it gives me strength.” They lifted the scepter and pointed it at the god. “But enough talking! Give me your body!”  
A blast of blue light emitted from the rounded tip of the scepter. Monolith dodged it, the magic splattering against the wall behind her, covering it in ice. The god swung her sword at the apparition, but they vanished, leaving behind nothing but a blue glow. The glow reappeared behind her, and she barely dodged another icy blast.  
 _I’m slowing down!_ The frost was up to her knees and elbows. It edged her wings and had completely covered her whiskers. She could smell nothing but cold.  
A glint caught her eye. The Ancient Sword! It was in one of the ice-covered niches. If she could break through, grab it, and escape in time…  
The apparition dodged her strike again, teleporting behind her. She swung around, pulling a chunk of stone from the wall and throwing it at the monster. Instead of dodging this one, the apparition put their arms up. The rock bounced off, a flicker of blue revealing a magic shield.  
Magic flew at her. She swerved right, but the beam struck the tip of one of her wings. She flipped onto her back from the impact and lost control, slamming into the ground. Immediately, frost raced across her back and up her shoulders, grabbing at her like hands. She slammed the pommel of her sword against the ground, shattering the stone beneath her. It freed her, but the frost, now riddled with chips of stone, still stuck to her back. She flipped herself over, trying to get back into the air, but her wings were fouled. Another blast hit her, striking her sword hand. She was pinned to the ground, and another blast fixed her other hand to the floor. She could feel the frost creeping across her back and up her legs, which were refusing to respond to her orders to move.  
“You put up a better fight than all the other pathetic people who used to live here,” the apparition chuckled. “They froze within minutes after I cursed this place. Their spirits gave me life whenever I needed it. With how many ghosts I still have left, I could live for another two thousand years. But I won’t need to.”  
Monolith slowly lifted her head, ice crawling up her neck. “So that’s why there aren’t as many ghosts here as there should have been. You’ve been using them, their souls, to sustain yourself.”  
“So perceptive,” the apparition chuckled. “These people wouldn’t have had to suffer if you and your pathetic human allies had just surrendered to Dormin. He would have granted me eternal life, and I would not have had to stoop to freezing myself in this place to wait for his eventual return. After I take your body and free Dormin, perhaps I will finally let these poor souls go.”  
Monolith inhaled slowly. “You aren’t going to take my body.”  
The apparition cackled. “You’re in no shape to stop me, and there’s nobody here to save you.”  
Monolith snorted. “So you can’t tell what exists, except for what is within this place.”  
The apparition shrugged. “Why do I care what goes on outside? I can only affect what is within this place. If some hapless creature like you wanders in, that’s just a bonus!”  
Monolith pushed all of her energy into her lungs and roared. “SELN!”  
Thunder shook the air. A bolt of lightning shattered what remained of the dome of the temple and struck the marble stairs leading into the basement; rolling balls of lightning formed and zoomed around the space, melting any frost they touched. One of the balls bounced into the artifact room, circling the downed god. The apparition shrieked unpleasantly, clutching the scepter tight in their pale hands.  
Another bolt struck the basement, this one cutting right through the stone ceiling with white-edged fury. Each strike let more light filter in, and the frost receded further.  
“You won’t get away!” the apparition screamed, lunging at Monolith. The god roared again, pulling at the ice that bound her hands. She couldn’t free herself; the frost had too strong a hold on her. She focused her energy into the ceiling overhead and split the stone.  
Light poured onto her back as the ceiling was rent in two. The frost hissed and evaporated from her body, froze muscles unlocking. She threw herself to the side, away from the charging apparition. The beast caught onto her armored shoulder, free hand wrapping around the base of her right wing. With a shriek, they stabbed the scepter at her chest. She roared in pain, feeling a blade of ice cut through her stone chestpiece and enter her flesh. Intense cold radiated from the point, and she felt it clawing towards her heart. The apparition cackled, pushing the scepter in up to her handhold. Monolith’s armor was turning white around the break, her flesh freezing black.  
She screamed, swinging her sword upwards. She sliced through her own armor, her mind forcing the stone apart. The edge of her blade met the golden shaft of the scepter and cleaved it in two. The apparition shrieked, pulling her hand away. What had once been whole was now a shriveled piece of useless metal.  
The other half of the scepter was still embedded in Monolith’s chest, but she no longer felt the cold. Her shattered chestpiece hung from her shoulders, rent in two from where the scepter had pierced it. Its exterior layers lay still on the ground, where her sword had tossed them.  
“You...you broke my scepter!” the apparition pouted. “That was my royal item, my symbol of rule over this forsaken place! And now, without its magic, these ruins will collapse!”  
They were right; as they spoke, the frost was receding from the stones around them. The air was warming up, and the buildings were starting to sag.  
“Good,” Monolith growled, leveling her sword at the monster. “You will be buried with them.”  
“I think not!” the apparition cackled. “No, I will not stay here. I will go somewhere else, somewhere far away...somewhere, where I can be worshipped as a queen, as I deserve to be!” they laughed, throwing their pale face back. “Yes, that is what I’ll do. It was good to meet you, god. I hope Dormin brings you to a sorry end!”  
With a snarl, Monolith lunged at the apparition, sword raised. Blue light glowed around the figure and they vanished, just as they had done before. But this time, they did not return.  
Monolith lowered her sword, disgruntled. _Damnit. I hope I never see that thing again._ She glanced down at her chest, where the front half of the scepter was still buried. It hurt, but at least she wasn’t frozen. With a grunt, she grasped the twisted end of the object and yanked it out of her flesh. It was followed by a spurt of blood, drops splattering onto the stone floor. She ground her teeth together and put her hand over the wound; it would close quick enough on its own.  
The Ancient Sword was where she had seen it, in one of the niches. The ice had receded from it, revealing the pale blade that looked so much like her own. She limped over to it, casting her own weapon back into its otherworldly sheath. She picked up the much smaller weapon, and felt the darkness within.  
 _We have him._  
She glanced around the artifact room. What other treasures were here?   
_Long-lost magicks, maybe even god-touched; ancient items of unknown power._ She took a step towards another niche. The ground shook as a crash echoed through the doorway; the structures above were starting to collapse. Dust sprinkled from the ceiling, settling on Monolith’s shoulders.  
 _No use in letting these items be buried forever!_  
She approached the first niche, which held a gold-inked book bound in faded leather. And then the next, which held an ivory box, carved with such beautiful intricacies one could become lost looking at them. And then a brooch, sparkling with magicked gemstones. She circulated the room, arms filling. She could hold no more, but more was left, so she stuck the Ancient Sword between her teeth and kept going. The ground shook again, cracks appearing in the ceiling.  
“Monolith, what in the heavens are you doing?” Seln complained from above. “This is no time to be playing archeologist!”  
“Just give me five more seconds!” the god yelled, sidestepping a large chunk of ceiling as it collapsed. Thoroughly laden, she quickly moved beneath the gash she had rent in the roof. With a hop, she shot up from the basement and through the gap. The harsh mountain sun spilled over her and she spread her wings, flying away from the ruins. The temple was in shambles, dome shattered and columns scattered. As she fled, a large section of the exterior wall leaned outwards and fell, bricks scattering across the smooth stone of the mountainside.  
“Monolith!” Seln was still floating overhead, lightning buzzing around her head. When she saw the god, the lightning dissipated.  
“I got it,” Monolith mumbled around the Ancient Sword. “And I got all this stuff too.”  
“You looted the temple?” Seln asked, incredulous. “Why would you do that?”  
Monolith landed on the mountainside, well away from the ruins. She set her items down and removed the sword from her mouth so she could speak clearly. “Because otherwise they would have been buried under that heap. These are priceless, ancient artifacts, and they’re useless when abandoned. I didn’t loot them, I saved them.”  
“Eh, I guess you’re right,” Seln pondered, drifting over. “But what are we going to do with all of them?”  
Monolith took the leather-bound book in her hands, eyes reading the gold-inked script. It was in a holy language, one that was different from the common tongue that humans and gods had been speaking for thousands of years. She was a little rusty, but maybe it would be a good read.  
“Well, we need to know what they are first,” she reasoned. “And then, maybe they’ll make good gifts for the human leaders that we must contact soon. The reunion of our peoples should be grand and lavish. Humans like their trinkets.”  
“I hope they aren’t cursed,” Seln worried. “They did come from a cursed monastery.”  
“The source of the cold you were feeling was a scepter wielded by this strange, ghost-like being,” Monolith told her. “I destroyed the scepter, but the apparition got away.”  
Seln yelped and swooped closer to the ground, just now noticing the god’s cleaved chestpiece and bloodstained fur beneath. “Monolith! You’re bleeding!”  
The god exhaled and put a hand to her wound. “I’m aware. It’s closing up, though.” She shut her eyes, calling to the stone around her. Strips of it peeled up from the ground and settled into her outstretched hands; she pressed them to her chest and fused the broken sides of her chestpiece together. She repaired the rest of the damage to her armor with more of the smooth stone. Its color was different from the rest, grey compared to something a little more brown.  
“I’m glad you’re okay,” Seln said quietly.  
“You might have saved me,” the god admitted. The air spirit’s head jerked up and tilted quizzically.  
“The apparition was trying to steal my body so they could touch the Ancient Sword and extract Dormin from it,” she explained. “The scepter they wielded could cast powerful frost magic, and just being underground in the ruins sapped my strength. The beast got a lucky shot on me and pinned me to the ground.”  
“By the stars,” Seln breathed. “I did save you!” Her gasbags inflated and she shot higher in the air, bobbing like a balloon. “I saved you!”  
Monolith bowed her head. “I am very thankful, Seln. I am glad you came along.”  
“We must write about our journeys,” the air spirit declared. “Never before has one of my kind saved the life of a major god. This is revolutionary!”  
“Perhaps we should,” Monolith agreed, gathering up the artifacts. “When we return to the Higher Lands, we should seek out the Libraries and what remains of our ancient texts. Too many were probably destroyed by Dormin, if not all of them. All of our history, our legends…”  
“We’re writing our new legends now!” Seln declared. “And we will rewrite what we can remember of the old.”  
Monolith, Ancient Sword in her mouth again, was unable to reply, so she just nodded. Spreading her wings, she flew up to Seln’s back and settled behind her foremost dorsal fin. With care, she tucked the artifacts safely in the niche, where the wind would not pluck them away.  
“I will try to not jostle as much,” Seln promised. “I don’t want to lose the artifacts.”  
“And I will take a long rest,” Monolith muttered, leaning back against the dorsal fin and shutting her eyes. “Try not to lose me either.”  
“Fighting sure is draining!” Seln declared. “That’s why I avoid it, so I can save all my energy for enjoying myself. When you wake up, we will be back at the Shrine!”  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Monolith dreamed while she slept. She saw the past gods, her allies and enemies, shadows moving about on a smoky plain. Was this the Higher Lands? Were the gods getting their forms back? The sky was clouded, as if fires still raged. She tried to approach the figures, but they just kept wandering farther away. She tried to call out to them, but no sound left her mouth.  
Something was crying in the back of her mind. She turned around and saw the horned infant, naked atop a flat rock. The child’s cries continued, but then its form morphed, becoming shadowy. The figure now crouched atop the rock, glaring at her with glowing blue eyes.  
 _Do you think you’re doing the right thing? Pandering to the wants of humanity, willing to risk your life to make deals with them instead of just taking what belongs to you? They are just dirt, mortal worms who are good for nothing but worshipping us, the gods. And you see to it that you treat them as equals? What kind of god are you?_  
Monolith tried to tear her eyes from the figure, but she was frozen in place. She began to panic, heart beating in her chest. Was it the frost? Had the apparition returned to finish their job?  
 _You’re weak,_ the shadow said. _You’re soft. You want to reunite with humanity as equals. You used to see the truth, that you were above them, and that they were nothing but animals. But now, you live with one mortal woman and she has convinced you that humanity is strong and capable. You visit one damned sorcerer and he convinces you that humans are dangerous and cunning. You think they deserve respect! Pathetic!_  
The shadowy figure started to move towards her, not walking but drifting strangely over the ground. _I will escape you. And I will return to destroy you._  
Monolith jolted awake, yelling and clawing at the air. She summoned her sword to her hand, ready to fight off the shadowy figure approaching her. But there were no shadows; she was riding on Seln’s back, surrounded by her rippling grey fur. Sunlight spilled around her, warm and innocent.  
“You okay back there?” Seln called. The air spirit had stopped moving and twisted around, looking at her dorsal fin with one glowing eye.  
Monolith slowly lowered her sword, trying to slow her breathing down. “I...had a nightmare,” she muttered, whiskers twitching at the strong scent of her own panic. Her eyes were drawn to the Ancient Sword, tucked with the other artifacts beneath Seln’s fin. “I...I saw the other gods. But I couldn’t call to them, and they kept wandering away from me, into a shadowy plain. And then...I saw that child. It turned into a shadowy figure with glowing blue eyes…”   
“Hey, Monolith!” Seln yelled. The god started; she was holding the Ancient Sword in one hand, pointing it towards her chest. She cursed, throwing the sword away from herself and jumping to her feet. It clattered into the other artifacts, scattering them.  
“It’s Dormin,” she snarled, backing away from the artifacts. “He’s trying to get into my mind, the worm. Even when trapped within a sword, his powers of persuasion are still strong.”  
“I haven’t felt anything,” Seln said. “But then again, what does Dormin care about me?” Her voice quavered a little. “I’m just a useless air spirit, after all…Wait!” She started, a ripple passing down her own body. “I’m not useless! I don’t think that!” She turned her head and began to fly in a tight circle. “I’m useful! I’m helpful! I may only be an air spirit, but at least I care!”  
“Whoa! Whoa!” Monolith yelled, holding out her hands for balance. “Slow down, Seln, or you’re going to toss me and all the artifacts!” She put a hand on her dorsal fin. “Dormin’s trying to get into your head too.”  
Seln stopped spinning, uncurling her body. “You...you don’t think I’m useless, do you, Monolith?”  
“Of course not,” the god scoffed. “You saved my life in the monastery.” She glared at the Ancient Sword. “We need to get back to the Shrine as fast as possible. Dormin’s only going to continue to try and trick us into freeing him. We need to shield our minds from him.” She lowered herself to a seated position and crossed her legs. “Clear your mind of all thoughts.”   
“My mind is buzzing like a beehive,” Seln replied. “How could it ever be empty?”  
Monolith shut her eyes. “Dormin can only persuade you if you think about his words. Focus only on what is physical and around you, but think nothing more of it but what you can feel. If you feel thoughts creeping in, shut them out. Set us on our southern course, and fly with haste.”  
“I-I’ll try,” Seln stuttered. “Focus on the wind and the air…”  
Monolith inhaled slowly, letting herself become aware of the living ground she sat upon. She breathed out, feeling the wind across her face.  
 _Weak,_ a voice whispered in her head. _Unworthy._  
She ground her teeth together, forcing the thoughts away. The ground beneath her was warm; she could feel the softness of Seln’s fur and the strength of the stone beneath it. The air was cold, rushing by her quickly…  
 _Unworthy…_  
She inhaled again. The sun was shining on her back, warming her scalloped armor plates and stone wings that looked so much like Seln’s long forefins. It reflected off the mountains, off the ocean, glimmering brightly. The light was all around her.  
The light was all around her. Shadows could not touch her. She was the light.   
_Un...worthy?_  
Her mind was empty, but it was full of light. It was full of light because she was true to what she believed in. Yes, she was different now. She believed in the humans, and she believed in believing. That made her anything but weak.  
The thoughts in her mind were just barely whispers now. She couldn’t hear them anymore. She wouldn’t let them influence her. She was nothing but the ground, the air, and the light.  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


	30. No Shadows without Light Pt. 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This series of 3 parts is the second-to-last chapter of this story. I know not many people have been actively reading this - it is a small fandom, after all, and it's not like I'm writing anything uber-fantastic here, just the story I wanted to create - but to the people who have, I hope you enjoyed my worldbuilding on this already-amazing story. Now, let's get to killing Dormin properly this time.

No Shadows without Light Pt. 1

“I’m just as strong as you are, Monolith,” Seln said nervously.  
They had stopped on a windswept outcrop, both flier and rider tired by their intense concentration. Monolith slid down the air spirit’s giant forefin, glad to have her feet on solid ground again.  
“I wish we could just put the sword by your tail,” she grumbled, rubbing her temples. “Somewhere that Dormin couldn’t reach our brains from. But his influence is miles long.”  
“He can’t get to me,” the air spirit repeated shakily. “Focus on the air. Clouds, sun, wind…”  
“This is tiring us both out,” Monolith said, shutting her eyes. “He’s throwing everything he can at us.” With every word she spoke, every thought required to make the word, she could feel Dormin trying to poke his way into her mind.  
“We’re close to the Forbidden Lands,” Seln observed. “I could almost see it from the air. We can make it...can’t we?”  
“The closer we get, the stronger Dormin gets,” Monolith replied heavily. “If I’m not careful, I’m going to exhaust myself trying to keep him out. And then he’ll sneak back in, just like he did the first time.”  
“And if I fall asleep…” Seln said nervously. “If we both fall asleep…”  
“I’m taking the sword,” Monolith growled. “We’re flying separately from now on. I’ll fly above you. If I as so much as look away from our destination, strike me down.”  
“What?” Seln protested. “I don’t want to hurt you!”  
“You won’t do any lasting damage,” the god promised. “You’ll just jolt Dormin out of my brain. And if I’m far enough away from you, you should be able to resist him better.”  
“Are you saying I’m not good enough - no, that’s not what you were saying!” Seln shrilled and then caught herself, entire body shuddering. “That’s not what you were saying…”  
“I should take the sword,” Monolith repeated gently.  
Seln nodded nervously, the sound of her moving her head like a distant rockslide. “I trust you, Monolith.”  
The god nodded grimly, radiant blue eyes angry from beneath her stone brow. She climbed back onto Seln’s pectoral fin and walked up it, feeling the dark energy from the Ancient Sword pulling at her like a magnet.  
“What will we do when we get back to the Shrine?” Seln asked. “Mono can’t possibly resist Dormin if he throws all his power at her.”  
“I’m hoping Dormin thinks nothing of her,” Monolith replied. “After all, what is one mortal woman going to be helpful for?”  
“He can probably think of something,” Seln muttered fearfully.  
Monolith dipped her head. “We’ll have to be careful.”  
She walked to the air spirit’s dorsal fin, the living stone protecting their haul of treasures. The Ancient Sword sat with them, so innocent as it was. The shadows around it seemed alive.  
Monolith grasped the hilt of the sword and lifted it; it was so light in her hand. It would be all too easy to take her own sword, a far superior weapon, and cleave this one in two, releasing the dark spirit inside…  
She shook herself free of her stupor. Damn you, Dormin. Damn you. Grinding her teeth together, she passed the sword between her wings and pressed it against her back. Her armor morphed, fingers of stone crossing over the metal and securing it in place. She bound it tightly; if Dormin wanted out, he’d have to convince her to undo the bindings, which would hopefully take long enough for her to come to her senses before anything bad could happen…  
“Ready?” Seln asked.  
“Ready,” Monolith confirmed, turning her eyes towards the southern sky. They were so close.  
She leapt from Seln’s back, extending her wings. She shot upwards, mountains flanking her. The air spirit’s gasbags ballooned and she floated after her, staying much closer to the ground. The two parted, Monolith rising high into the wispy sky. Seln shrank away until she was just a sinuous line moving below her. They could see each other, and that was all.  
 _The Forbidden Lands. The Shrine._ She held her destination clear in her mind, setting herself on the southeastern course. She shut her eyes, trying to meditate as she flew, just as she had done on Seln’s back.  
 _Nothing but air around me. The sun warms everything above me, and the snows cool below. I am on the edge of two different worlds.  
You’re worthless. You can’t keep me out._  
She needed to think to keep herself on course; she needed to think to keep her wings moving right, adjusting to the constant changes in the wind. She couldn’t keep her mind clear, not completely.   
_You told Seln it would be easy. “If you feel thoughts creeping in, shut them out” you said, like it was trivial. You were fine when you didn’t have anything you had to think about. Now look at you, struggling to do what she also failed at. You too will fail._  
Was that Dormin talking, or was it her own conscious? She ground her teeth together, trying to keep her mind empty. Doubt was edging into her thoughts.  
Thunder roared in her ears. Her eyes widened at the way the sky glowed all around her, like a cage of electricity. Suddenly shaken back into her senses, she roared in shock, feeling her entire body falter for a moment as the lightning strike hijacked her muscles. Dormin was jolted out of her brain, his presence in her mind forcing him to feel the same pain she did.  
She was falling, wings gone limp. Air was rushing past her, but she felt strangely numb to the whole situation.  
Her senses slammed back into consciousness and her eyes flew open wide. Yelling, she stretched her wings out and flipped herself over, feeling the air catch beneath her. She was dragged to a jarring halt as her wings started beating again.  
“Monolith!” Seln was rising towards her, eyes glowing orange in distress. “Are you okay?”  
“Stay back!” Monolith ordered, warding the air spirit away with a wave of her hand. “I’m fine. You will do that as many times as it is necessary.”  
“I...I think I waited a little too long on that one…” Seln admitted, dropping her head.  
Monolith looked towards the southern horizon. She had been diverged eastward by her lapse in control. Growling, she looked back down at Seln, who ducked her head even further, dorsal fins going flat against her back. “I’m sorry,” the air spirit squeaked.  
The god ground her teeth together, trying to avoid an outburst. “It’s not in your nature to hurt anyone,” she finally replied. “But please, this is important. Like you said, it’s not easy to keep your mind clear. It’s like...there’s a buzzing going on in there. It’s hard to block that out.”  
“I promise I won’t wait as long next time,” Seln said meekly, lifting her head up.  
“If there is a next time,” Monolith growled, fingers curling into determined fists. She beat her wings and increased altitude, returning to where she had been flying before. Seln drifted back towards the ground, shrinking back to a dark shape.  
The god set her eyes on the southern horizon. She could just barely see where the mountains leveled off, dropping over the steep cliff that surrounded the Forbidden Lands. They were so close.  
She tried to push her thoughts away, to block out the persistent nagging in her mind. Despite everything she tried, she still couldn’t get the cadence of her own wingbeats out of her head. She needed to think about them, calculate every adjustment to the shape of the wind. Slowly adjusting them to turn her eastwards...  
Lightning passed very near to her head. She yelped in surprise and swerved, avoiding the strike. Her wings curved against the air, static scattering across the stone surfaces. Was the sword on her back making her a target for the bolts? Maybe she could cast it away…  
 _No, you idiot!_ She shook her head angrily, squeezing her eyes shut. _Stop thinking!_  
This had been so much easier when she had been sitting on Seln’s back, stationary. Were there really so many differences between then and now, that made this so much harder?  
She pressed her palms against her eyes. _I am a god of the earth and water. Those are the elements that give me strength. I carry with me wings of stone, a paradox just as I am. The sky is not my domain._  
“Monolith!” she became faintly aware of Seln screaming at her. Slowly, she realized she was falling again, plummeting towards the broad side of a tall mountain. That was her domain down there. She could crash into its flank and be enveloped in its darkness…  
“Oh, for all that is holy!” she roared, stretching out her wings. She pulled away from the mountain, yanking her inertia around like a massive deadweight. She was very near to flying in circles with how often Dormin had managed to distract her.  
 _I can’t do this._ Frustrated, she flew back towards Seln. The air spirit stopped, a mixture of surprise and fear in her eyes. She edged away from the god as she approached, like a nervous deer from a wolf.  
“Are you...okay?” she asked. “Why are you down here?”  
“I can’t do this,” Monolith replied exhaustedly. “I’m out of my element in the sky. I should just walk...it’ll take longer, but at least I can anchor myself to the strength of the earth.”  
“We’re still days away from the Forbidden Lands by foot!” Seln protested. “Come on, Monolith, we can do it!”  
“We…” the god muttered. She frowned, stony brow lowering over her eyes.  
“What?” Seln asked.  
“You are an air spirit inhabiting a body of living stone,” Monolith said slowly. “I am a god of earth and water, inhabiting the sky. We’re both paradoxes in that way, beings inhabiting opposing elements. But you belong to the air more than I, and I to the earth more than you. If we combine our strengths, maybe we can keep Dormin out together, instead of separately.”  
She beat her wings and swooped over to the air spirit. Folding the stone appendages against her back, she dropped onto Seln’s furry hide. Immediately, she felt a sense of faint relief, the living stone warm with energy beneath her feet. Bending her knees, she sat down at the base of the spirit’s neck, almost as far forwards as her fur grew. She placed her hands on her knees and exhaled, trying to relax.  
“You will have to bear part of this burden again, but I’m not going to make you do it alone,” she told the spirit. “I’m going to stay with you. Last time, I focused only on myself and our strengths were separate. Neither you nor I, alone, can resist Dormin’s power. No one who stands alone can.”  
“Thanks for not making me hit you with lightning again,” Seln said quietly, twisting her neck so she could make eye contact with Monolith. “I really hated that.”  
The god smiled. “You’re all the more powerful for it. It takes more strength to refuse to do what seems easy than to do what is difficult.”  
Seln turned to face the southern horizon, gasbags fluttering nervously. “Okay...Shrine, here we come.”  
Monolith placed her palms on the living ground besides her. “Remember, Seln, I am with you. My eyes are open; I will help guide you. We are carrying this sword together.”  
She could feel the magical energy moving beneath her hands. It pulsed rhythmically with the slow undulations of the air spirit’s ribbon-like body and the gentle movements of her fins. Dormin’s dark energy was trying to disrupt that rhythm, ignoring Monolith for a potentially easier target. It was like a shadow had extended from the sword, trying to twist itself into the fibers of the energy below it. Paying attention to only herself, she never would have felt it.  
“Stay south,” she called. “Can you see it yet? The edge of the cliffs? I see it. We are close.”  
“I feel tired,” Seln replied. “I am...Something is telling me I’m tired.”  
“Ignore it,” Monolith ordered. “I’m not tired. I’m here with you.” She focused her own energy to her extremities, feeling it merging into the living stone. Seln, who had been slowly drifting towards the ground, jolted back up with a sweep of her fins. She surged forwards, rising once more. Monolith felt Dormin’s energy draw angrily back into the sword.  
“We are the air, the earth, the water, and the light,” she rumbled. “Together we are more complete than before. We are strong because we are true to what we believe in.”  
“We are strong,” Seln repeated. “No good-for-nothing, greedy, shadow-spewing bastard is going to tell us what to do!” Her dorsal fins went flat against her back. The air around them lit up with energy, lightning gathering around Seln’s fins. With a thunderous crack, the air spirit shot forwards on a bolt of lightning. Monolith was thrown onto her back, yelling and grabbing at grey fur to keep herself from being thrown off. Just as fast as the jump had started, it ended.  
“And we are here!” Seln crowed triumphantly.  
Monolith grumbled under her breath, picking herself up off her back. Sunlight poured over them, warm and bright. There was a ring in the sky above them, a ring of white-marble stairs. The Ascent, the staircase to the realm of the gods, had been revealed. She was caught in the beauty of it for a moment, staring at it with wide eyes.   
_It has been so long since I’ve seen this…_  
Seln circled around the Shrine, descending so she could place her long pectoral fins against the ground. Monolith lowered her gaze, spotting Mono, Agro, and the unnamed colossus standing on the grass beyond the Shrine’s staircase.  
“Damn,” she muttered. “I really hope Dormin keeps his sticky fingers off of her.”  
Seln touched down, fins coming to rest gently on the grass. Monolith walked to her shoulder and descended one of the fins. As soon as her feet touched the ground again, she felt a great relief. The weight dragging at her limbs lifted and the exhaustion cleared from her mind. The magic that watered the earth here would give her strength.  
 _But it will make Dormin stronger as well._  
She was very aware of the sword on her back. She could almost feel the evil god within it twitching angrily.  
Mono was walking towards them, Agro in tow. The colossus plodded after them with less enthusiasm.  
“Did you get it?” the woman asked hurriedly, eyes wide. Monolith quickly held up her hand, stopping the woman in her tracks.  
“Yes,” she replied, “but you need to stay back. Dormin willingly exudes his influence on the minds of others, and he is very hard to resist. After all, even in sixteen pieces, he was able to convince your savior that he could defeat the likes of massive, stone monsters.”  
Mono’s hand clutched the glass charm around her neck at those words; she took a step back, fear crossing her face. “What an idiot…”  
Monolith lowered her hand. “I would suggest staying with Agro. Animals are sensitive to the energies of those they know. She will know if Dormin is trying to get into your mind.”  
Mono drew back quickly, hands clasped. “He can’t...possess me, can he?”  
“Not while trapped within another object, but he can certainly convince you to do something else detrimental,” the god replied, crossing her arms. “He spent the entire ride back from the mountains trying to get Seln or I to crash into the mountains.”  
Mono edged up very close to Agro, putting a hand on the mare’s neck. “Why would you bring it here, knowing this danger?”  
Monolith raised an eyebrow. “I’m not about to go releasing a powerful god in human territory. If Dormin were to escape from me out there, we would lose him in the blink of an eye. He could go anywhere there were humans and possess one of them, and then hide in plain sight. Finding him after something like that would require extensive searching, and he is very cunning. While trapped in a sword, he can do only poorly to hide himself, but in a real body…”  
“I’m sure Monolith has a very good plan,” Seln reassured the woman. “She will dispatch Dormin quickly and safely.”  
Mono still looked downright terrified. “You should never have brought him here. Take yourself to some far corner of this land, away from me!” Her face got stormy; Agro, next to her, whinnied and tossed her head fearfully. “I can’t believe you would bring him here, knowing what he could do to me!”  
Monolith’s eyes widened and she stepped back from the furious woman, holding up her hands. “I’m sorry! I just wanted you to know that we had succeeded, and that we were safe.”  
The woman balled up her hands, stepping away from her horse. “Ridiculous, you are. I thought gods were supposed to be smart!”  
Monolith growled, eyes flaring. “Smarter than you humans, we are!”  
“Don’t say those things!” Seln yelled, silencing the both of them with her thunderous voice. “Shut it, the both of you. Dormin’s influence is over your minds, and your anger lets him in further!” She lashed her massive tail through the air with a crack. “We didn’t want you to worry about us, Mono, after we were gone on a journey into the unknown. Monolith nearly died getting that stupid sword.”  
The woman’s face fell and she turned her head away. “I’m...I didn’t think of something like that as possible.” She put her hand back on Agro’s neck. “I mean, yes, I was worried, but I never thought…”  
Seln turned her massive head towards the god. “And you! You believe humans and gods are equal, and you are all the stronger because you believe in what you believe in. Look at you then, claiming your mental superiority over them! Who’s words are those? Not yours!”  
The god bowed her head. “I’m sorry, Mono. I should not have said that.”  
“Well, you already did, and you can’t take it back,” the woman replied hotly, crossing her arms. “While I am glad you returned here safely, I cannot accept such hostility from someone who I thought was my friend. Dormin may be over your mind, but can he really make up words for someone who does not already believe in them?”  
Monolith’s ears flattened and she took a step back, shocked. “How could you say such a thing?”  
“Maybe ‘Dormin’ is just your excuse,” the woman replied stiffly, turning her back to the god. “Take that thing away from here. Take it as far away as you can. I don’t want it here.”  
~


	31. No Shadows without Light Pt. 2

No Shadows without Light Pt. 2

Monolith huffed angrily, grinding her teeth together. “Fine! Says you, who in the past expressed such desire to see Dormin destroyed. I will do the deed, and you will witness nothing.”  
The woman whipped around. “Fine!” she yelled. “I’ll see nothing. But I’m done talking to you.” With that, she stormed back up the stairs of the Shrine, not bothering to see if anyone followed her.  
Monolith huffed and turned her back on the woman. “Ridiculous indeed. Did I really think we were equal?”  
Her eyes widened and she smacked her palm against her forehead, feeling like a pall over her mind had suddenly dropped. “Damnit! Get out of my head!”  
She was suddenly swept off her feet, stomach jerking into her toes as the ground fell away. Seln’s giant pectoral fin was across her chest, carrying her away with the air spirit. She clawed at the stone in front of her, gripping on tight against the wind that threatened to pluck her away. They were spiraling around the Shrine, in line with the highest towers.  
“You idiot!” Seln yelled shrilly. “Couldn’t you see what you were doing?”  
“Now I do!” the god yelled back. “I’m sorry, ok? Let me down so I can go apologize to Mono!”  
“No!” Seln declared, voice shaking the Shrine’s towers. “Dormin will just use her to rile you up again. Remember what you said about him, that if we combined our strengths, maybe we could keep Dormin out together? Mono has no one to do that with!”  
The god glanced down, spotting the lone woman standing at the top of the Shrine’s stairs, gazing up at them. When their eyes met, she looked away with a jerk of her head and stomped into the building.  
“We’re going to the southernmost point, where the last colossus was,” Seln said firmly. “It is one of the most secure places on this land. There, we will destroy Dormin once and for all. We were stupid to think he wouldn’t use Mono against us.”  
Monolith growled angrily and let go of Seln’s fin. She was pulled under by the force of the wind; she twisted her body and lifted her own wings off her back. They caught the air and pulled her upwards, above the air spirit. The giant creature twisted, rolling so her pectoral fin reached towards the sky. Monolith dodged the passing of the rest of her body, backwinging above the Shrine to give the huge spirit room to turn around.  
“I have the sword, let’s go!” Seln said, sounding annoyed. She turned southward and was off with a ripple of her ribbon-like body, huge fins sweeping back to power herself forwards. Monolith swooped after her, chasing the end of her tail. She looked back towards the Shrine again, but Mono was nowhere to be seen.   
_She wouldn’t take my apology anyways. Not after what I said, even if I didn’t mean it. What...damnit! No, stop thinking so dismally! Mono...she is my friend..._  
Steeling herself, she turned her gaze towards the southern sky. Beyond the land she could see the ocean, the other great reservoir of her power. Between those two masses, the land and the sea, she would be at her strongest.  
She caught up to Seln, flying above her head. “You remember that I plunged the Watchtower into the ocean, right? Along with half of its base?”  
“There is still plenty of room,” Seln replied. “We can construct the proper securities, and if Dormin does escape, Mono is far away from him. We’ll catch him before he can hurt her.”  
“You can burn the barrier runes into the rock,” Monolith said. “I’ll trap myself in there with Dormin. If things somehow get bad and I can’t break the circle myself, you’ll be able to.”  
“Are you sure you want to trap yourself in there with him?” Seln asked nervously. “All it takes is one second for things to go wrong, and if we can’t react fast enough…”  
“Dormin is bodiless,” Monolith reassured the spirit. “He will be much weaker than I, and I will be the only body present for him. He would have to have the luck of aligned stars to possess another major god.” But as she spoke, she could remember the entity she fought below the abandoned monastery. She felt the cold pricking at her heart again, felt the metal scepter stabbing into her chest. That hadn’t been a god she was fighting, but it had almost defeated her nevertheless.  
 _The old gods, those powerful like me, feared nothing. We lived for so long on this notion we were invincible. Were we really so blind to our own mortality?_  
The rising plateau surrounding the once-glorious Watchtower expanded below them; Seln slowed, and Monolith tipped a wing to swoop closer to the craggy rocks. The broken platform of the Watchtower, nestled in the cliffs, appeared below them, and she spiralled towards its surface. Now under the warm light of the sun, she could see how much damage her fight with the final colossus had done; huge cracks invaded portions of the remaining platform, and the break was jagged and fresh, like teeth turned to stone. Most of the upper dais was gone; more remained of the lower level, where bits of the Watchtower’s walls still remained. She alighted on the highest point, near the jagged break. The stone plunged away into the grey ocean, beating at the cliffs; somewhere, beneath those waves, was the twice-broken body of the colossus.  
Seln settled behind her, tips of her fins brushing the ground. “You sure made a mess here!”  
“I know,” the god replied. “I feel a little guilty for doing so, though it wasn’t exactly my fault. The Watchtower was a glorious creation, made by the hands of the gods themselves. In their glory, they seemed indomitable. But everything in this land has been brought to ruin just the same…”  
“We can rebuild it all!” Seln said excitedly. “It will be just like the First Colonization, when the humans granted this slice of their world to commemorate the alliance between our nations.”  
“Perhaps,” Monolith mused, eyes fixed on the distant horizon. “The future from here just seems so...unsure.” She looked down at her hands. “It feels so strange, to have it end like this. Dormin is trapped in a sword without a body, and he will be near to helpless when we break his vessel open. There will be no great clashing of souls, no thunderous battle cries, no sparks of godly weapon upon godly weapon. It will be so simple…”  
“You fought Dormin before,” Seln whispered, looking scared. “Why would you ever want to face him at full power again?”  
Monolith shrugged. “I guess it seems kind of unfair, cutting down one of my fellow gods without giving him a chance to defend himself.”  
Seln tilted her head. “Is he getting into your brain again? Sounds like he’s trying to earn himself an advantage.”  
Monolith sighed, rubbing her eyes. “Maybe. But I am strongest here, where I can feel both the earth and sea. I don’t think he’s in my mind anymore.”  
Seln drifted closer to Monolith, offering one fin. “Well, you wouldn’t mind taking that accursed blade off my back, then? While you may be strongest here, I think I am just about the same.”  
Monolith nodded and stepped onto the broad forefin. Seln lifted her up so she could walk across a level surface, stepping over the low ridges that decorated the stone surface. She hopped over to Seln’s body, grabbing her grey fur as she landed. She pulled herself onto the air spirit’s back and walked to her closet dorsal fin. The Ancient Sword was there, along with the other items from the monastery.  
“Carve the barrier runes into the dais,” she ordered, picking up the sword. It felt cold and heavy in her hand, like it was fighting to stay on the spirit’s back.  
“Okay,” Seln obeyed nervously, floating away from the ground. She tilted downwards, nose pointing towards the earth. With a chorus of crackles, six sphere of lightning formed around her head. Monolith strode to the base of her neck, looking at the ground below.  
“Try not to hit the ground too hard,” she advised. “The remains of the dais should be relatively stable, but we don’t want to take any risks.”  
Seln fired six bolts of lightning forth, striking the ground like burning lasers. Black scorch marks appeared in the stone wherever the bolts touched, forming a repeating pattern that rapidly closed the gaps within itself.  
Monolith jumped from Seln’s back, lifting her wings. She soared downwards and positioned herself within the circular border that was forming from the dance of the lightning. She could feel the invisible magic closing around her, creating a pillar of existence that was separate from everything else. She settled to the ground in the center of the circle, which would remain free from runes.  
Seln’s lightning fizzled out. The circle was complete, a repeating pattern of runes burnt into the stone to form it. Monolith walked to the border and held her free hand out; her fingers brushed against an invisible surface, curved and smooth as ice. She walked, following the border all the way around, and not once did she feel the border give.  
She turned and looked to the sky, where the air spirit was hovering outside the circle. “It is complete.”  
“Please be careful,” Seln begged. “I can break the circle with lightning; just say the word and I will.”  
“I will be fine,” Monolith reassured her. “This will go quick.”  
She turned her gaze towards the sword in her hand. It looked so much like her own blade, just smaller and lighter, meant for human hands. But there was a shadow on its inside, tarrying it. Her lips curled back in a grimace, thinking of the darkness.  
She held the Ancient Sword out in front of her, flat of the blade facing her. Extending her other hand, she summoned her own blade into her grip, the gleaming metal humming with energy every time the ocean’s waves struck the shore. She felt the energy pulsing up her arm and at the same time felt it beneath her feet, the heartbeat of the earth. With blue eyes blazing from beneath a stony brow, she drew her blade over her head. The metal glowed with an infusion of power, drawn from the earth and the waves. With a cry, she brought her blade down upon the Ancient Sword, striking it where the metal curved inwards, forming its narrowest point. With a brilliant burst of white light and the scream of god-forged metal upon god-forged metal, the Ancient Sword was cleaved in two.  
The top third of the sword went skittering away, bouncing over the carved stone. It crossed through the invisible barrier, a soul no longer contained within it, and plunged over the precipice. Darkness spilled forth like liquid from the broken end that Monolith still held, rolling away from her with haste. The blob crashed into the invisible barrier at the edge of the circle and bounced off. Resentfully, it turned, and the form of Dormin materialized from it.  
~


	32. No Shadows without Light Pt. 3

No Shadows without Light Pt. 3

Dormin’s soul was much more powerful than Seln’s had been, so the form that the darkness moulded into was a near-perfect replica of the body of Dormin that Monolith remembered, just not nearly as large. He crouched on digitigrade legs, forefists resting against the ground. Thin tendrils of smoke, like spider’s legs, extended from his back, roving through the air weakly. He stared at her with blue eyes full of hatred, beneath curling horns.  
Monolith tossed the rest of the Ancient Sword to the side; it clattered across the rocks and bounced down the stairs of the dais, coming to a rest on the platform below. She lifted her own sword, pointing it at Dormin. “Do you remember me?”  
“Of course I do,” the spirit growled. “And if you think I am going to make this easy on you, you are wrong.”  
“Why not?” Monolith asked. “You are defenseless and trapped. Just give up, Dormin. You must pay for your crimes against humanity and the gods.”  
“Crimes against humanity?” Dormin laughed. “I was going to bring them everlasting life! They were going to worship the gods like we deserved, instead of behaving like two allied nations of equals!” He spat that last word with overwhelming disgust. “You and your fellows had gone soft on them. I was going to bring back the glory of the dawn of times.”  
Monolith swept her sword back. “Nothing you can say will save your soul. Goodbye, Dormin.”   
She charged with a roar, feet thundering over the stone. The soul’s eyes narrowed and he threw himself to the side, dodging the swipe of Monolith’s gleaming blade. She skidded to a halt, thumping against the invisible barrier. Dormin’s heavy hands swung at her, but she dodged, rolling to the side. She lashed out with her blade and the soul quickly scurried away, gathering on the edge of the circle.  
“You can’t dodge me forever!” Monolith yelled, charging at Dormin again. He tucked into a ball and rolled away from her; she kicked out at his form, the energy of the sea gathering around her feet, and sent him sprawling. In another fluid motion, she sidestepped to where he had spawled and swung her blade down. He pushed himself up off the ground with the spider’s legs on his back; her blade cleaved the thin legs like twigs. The shadowy soul flopped back onto the ground, bellowing in pain. He pushed himself away from her and huddled at the edge of the circle, his back to the sea.  
“You’re done for, Dormin,” she growled, lifting her sword and shaking the traces of black from it.   
“That’s what you think,” the soul replied.  
Monolith charged, sweeping her blade up. Dormin pressed himself against the ground, form spreading out into a blob like he wasn’t sure which way to dodge. The warring god’s eyes glowed with fury; she would have him now!  
Her blade glowed with powerful magic, drawing upon the earth and the sea. In order to kill him, she would have to strike with everything she had. Only a powerful blow of magic to a god’s heart of his soul could do the deed.  
She brought her blade down upon the blackness, slicing through it like butter. Dormin shrieked terribly, form convulsing. Her sword clashed against the stone below, cutting into the burned circle and shooting out sparks.   
She stepped back, watching Dormin’s form fizzle away into nothing. One half was turning to dust…  
Her eyes widened. Had he..?  
She had missed his heart, or he had dodged at the very last moment. Without a vessel to trap it in, the severed part of his soul was washing away, but half of him still lived. With a terrible, pained grin, that half of him dragged itself out of the circle, squeezing through the small gap Monolith had made when her sword cut into the carvings in the stone.   
“NO!” she roared. She ran to the edge after him, grabbing for any trace of his putrid soul. Her hands came up empty as she crashed against the remaining border, the gap too narrow to even fit a finger through. With a roar, she slammed her hands against the ground, sending cracks throughout the circle. The barrier was disrupted and fell away completely.  
The remains of Dormin’s soul was perched on the edge of the precipice, over the beating sea. “You’re too late,” he croaked, and dropped off the cliff.  
“Aiiieee!” Seln yelled from above, shaking herself out of a stupor. Lightning rained over the cliff after the fleeing soul as Monolith raced to the edge, dropping onto her belly to peer into the grey abyss. The lightning faded, showing nothing but a surging sea.  
“Oh no,” the god muttered. She waited silently, counting the number of times the waves crashed against the shore. Five...six...seven...eight...  
The waved exploded outwards as a massive hand pushed them aside. The colossus, the automaton, was waking up from its watery prison, sitting up from the rocky seabed.  
Monolith jumped away from the cliff, getting out of the beast’s line of sight. “He’s possessed the automaton!” she roared, gesturing for Seln to get out of sight as well. The massive air spirit yelped and flew close to the ground at the base of the dais, head poking up the stairs. “What do we do now?” she whimpered.  
“We have to knock him out of there,” Monolith growled, hefting her sword. “He lost nearly half of himself to that trick, so he can’t possibly hold the possession for too long, not if we keep him under fire.”  
“You know how deadly the automaton’s artillery was,” Seln said, gasbags fluttering nervously. “If Dormin figures out how to put power back into the heavy weapons…”  
“I fought the automaton before, when I led a force to retake it from Dormin’s monsters,” Monolith replied. “It has trouble hitting small, fast targets. As long as you stay in cover, you should be fine with me distracting it.” She stood up, spreading her wings. “I’m going to lead it away from shore so it can’t get a good line of sight on you.”  
“You better hurry!” Seln yelped, slithering backwards so she could hide below the lip of the Watchtower’s platform. “He’s here!”  
The automaton was slowly standing up, teetering like one of its legs wasn’t working quite right. The burning, orange light had returned to its eyes, like they had been when Monolith had fought the beast before. But this time, they were many times stronger.  
“When you knocked this great body from this cliff, you freed its feet from their grounded prison,” Dormin’s voice echoed from the colossus. “While all its parts may not work as before, I won’t need most of them to destroy you.” The colossus lifted a hand, palm towards the dais.  
Monolith sprang into the air, dodging the barrage of energy. The bolts crashed into the dais, covering it with black scorch marks. The god beat her wings, taking advantage of the monster’s relatively slow recovery time. Its other hand swept up defensively, but she was much faster, swooping around it. With a howl, she gathered energy around her blade and struck the colossus right between the eyes. It reeled backwards, bending like a marionette. She swept over it, arching around and gathering her strength for another strike. In tune with the motion of the waves, she sliced across the monster’s back, blade rending a deep gash in the stone.  
One of the beast’s hands swatted in her direction and she peeled away, diving towards the ocean. The waves suddenly surged and broke above a gangly, stone knee, which came at her with surprising speed. She braked and turned, but still grazed off its edge, bouncing like a rubber ball with rattling bones. She plowed into the waves, skipping twice on the surface before sinking under. Her water-clogged ears heard an electric crackle and she quickly beat her tail, diving for safety as a beam of energy cut through the waves above her, boiling the water on the spot.  
With much of its stone-paneled skirt gone, the colossus was balancing on two rather skinny legs, feet planted on the stone bottom of the sea. Dormin was slowly turning his stolen body around, trying to search for Monolith in the grey sea. She pressed herself to the seabed, watching the two glowing points of his eyes sweep around.  
 _I can see underwater just fine, but I doubt that he can. This is not his element._  
She surged forwards, keeping low to the seabed. Dormin’s body was protected by thick stone armor, which would absorb much of the force of her blows. She remembered the weak points that the colossus once had, but Dormin would not have been stupid enough to keep them in the same place. He would have moved those nexuses of magic around to somewhere less easy to find. Unless she got lucky, she was just going to have to manually beat the soul out of the monster.  
 _No point in waiting and wondering._ The colossus was starting to fire random barrages into the water, trying to flush its foe out. If she waited too long, it could get lucky.  
She needed to drive it away from the shore so Seln could come back onto the dais and help from a distance. Beating her tail, she swept around to the back of the beast. Narrowing her eyes, she aimed for the center of its back and surged forwards. She broke from the sea in silent fury, blade gleaming with frothing water. With the strength of the waves, she struck her target, the colossus jerking forwards, a new gash added to the stone on its back. Dormin struggled to keep the beast upright, stumbling further from the shore.   
Monolith looped in the air and came back for another pass, crossing her first slash with another. Dormin was more prepared for her this time, and his legs were braced against the seabed. He twisted, trying to swat at the flying god; she ducked under his hand and slashed at his wrist. Energy glowed on the bands around the colossus’ wrists and biceps; Monolith was hit with a powerful pulse of force, wings knocked askew. She tumbled towards the ocean, regaining control just above the surface. Water showered her back as magic blasts struck just behind her; throwing herself to the side, she dodged the rest of the strikes, feeling their searing heat on her wings.  
“I will destroy you!” Dormin yelled. “You will die in oblivion. And I will capture your pathetic soul and make it serve me like I did all your allies, and you did mine. Do you really think you are better than me, having done the same as I?”  
“Shut up,” Monolith muttered, wiping sea spray from her face. She backwinged further out to sea, trying to draw the colossus with her. Dormin did not move, facing her with the glowing, terrible eyes of the beast.  
“I can see to the horizons through the eyes of the automaton,” he said, lifting a hand. “You cannot hide from me amongst the clouds.”  
Monolith dove, hearing the shots fired. She rolled, tucking her wings against her back. One of the glowing projectiles passed so close to her face she could see the little sparks of fire in it, trapped within the superheated magic. The ocean raced towards her, and she swung her sword down, striking the waters with thunderous force. A narrow, tall wave covered in froth emanated from her strike, crashing towards the automaton. Dormin tried to move his vessel, but it was too slow and the wave struck it, sending it reeling backwards. He stumbled sideways, trying to keep from falling beneath the crashing waves. Monolith dropped onto the water’s surface, feeling her energy spreading out across it as her hands and feet rested upon its tension. The water around Dormin surged, keeping him from regaining his balance.  
“Seln!” she roared. “Now!”  
The air spirit rose from her hiding place behind the dais, howling with a mixture of anger and fear. Lightning gathered in the air around her and shot at the automaton in a fury, filling the sky with blinding color. The following thunder shook the cliffs, stones falling from the broken dais into the sea. Monolith felt the ocean vibrating beneath her feet, an odd sensation that clashed with the regular roll of the waves. She blinked the spots from her eyes, everything gone slightly fuzzy from all the lightning. The automaton was nowhere to be seen, likely knocked beneath the waves.  
“Is he gone?” Seln asked.   
Monolith held up her hand, stopping her from saying any more. “Get back down, Seln. He may not be defeated yet.”  
“I hit him pretty hard,” Seln replied, sounding offended. “You think that would have-” A stone hand broke from the waves, palm towards the air spirit. She saw it and shrieked, moving to turn away. The barrage of magic shot forth from the automaton’s hand, exploding against the air spirit’s pectoral fins and gasbags. She screamed, gasbags rupturing and chunks of stone falling from where the magic had struck her. One of the projectiles struck her where one of her left pectoral fins connected to her body and the limb was severed, shooting shards of stone from the wound. The massive fin fell onto the dais with a deafening crash, breaking into three pieces. Seln, screaming, crashed into the dais after it, unable to stabilize herself without her pectoral fin and gasbags.  
“Seln!” Monolith roared, horrified. The air spirit was exposed on the dais, unable to get herself up off the ground. Dormin was lining up for another shot.  
 _His magic may keep me from interacting with the stone of his armor, but not with anything else!_  
She leapt from the water, speeding towards the broken edge of the dais. Behind her, she heard the crackle of the automaton’s magic.  
She slammed into the cliffside, magic surging up it. The stone in front of Seln shifted, a ridge pushing upwards to protect her. Dormin’s projectiles exploded against the ridge, scorching it with black marks.  
 _Once he stands up again, he’ll be able to see over it. I’ve got to get to him now!_  
The automaton was sitting up, water draining from its head and shoulders. Black shadows were dancing on the edges of its figure, waving like strange flames. “You really have annoyed me,” Dormin spoke from within it. “I have outsmarted you twice now, and you have just gotten lucky. It isn’t worth it to keep fighting.”  
Monolith felt his influence tugging at her mind, but she let the ocean waves wash it away. “You cannot sway me here, Dormin, not where I am strongest,” she replied.  
“Yes, but should you dodge left or right?” her foe questioned.  
The magic projectiles flew at her suddenly, the automaton’s hand snapping around with uncanny speed. She threw herself from their path in a whirl of wings. Something clutched at the air around her, and suddenly she was tangled, wrapped in a seething mass of dark tentacles. Dormin had his hand towards her, strands of shadows projecting from it.  
 _He’s casting his magic out of an unsuitable body!_ He couldn’t possibly hold this up for long, having lost nearly half of himself earlier. The automaton was meant to cast one type of magic and one only. Its form was shaking and smoking, black magic seeping from its edges as it slowly stood up, water cascading from its body and legs. Monolith struggled against the trap, unable to move her arms or wings an inch.  
“And here I have outsmarted you a third time,” Dormin said, holding the god up to his eyes like he was inspecting a toy. “How pathetic.”  
“I would hardly call this an outsmarting,” Monolith shot back, finding it hard to gather the air into her lungs to get the words out. “You’re weakening your borrowed body by doing this. You’re desperate, otherwise you would never do this.” She continued to struggle, but her efforts seemed fruitless.  
“Once I assimilate your soul into myself, I will be stronger than any other being that walks this plain,” Dormin replied, lifting his free hand. More dark shadows gathered around his fingers; bits of stone were crumbling from his hands. “Cutting your soul from your body will be such menial work, but I will enjoy watching you suffer.”  
Monolith shut her eyes and gathered her energy within her, breathing with the rhythm of the waves. _I went through this once. I refuse to go through it again!_  
Her magic exploded from her, the power of the earth and the ocean gathered into a single point. The shadows binding her were shredded by the blades of stone and water that shot from her being, pieces of her own armor, dust from the sky, and the water itself that was evaporated there, condensing into knives burning with brilliant magic. The automaton was littered with the shards, slicing and cracking its stone armor. It stumbled back, reeling from the blows.  
Energy was flowing through her. She had to continue holding onto it and channeling its power; she could end this.  
A blaze of light exploded behind her; Seln had shot a ball of lightning into the sky from where she lay on the dais, crippled. The lightning burned the eyes of the colossus that faced it; Dormin brought his hand up to try and shield his gaze. Pieces of stone were falling from the beast; it was failing.  
Monolith beat her wings and dove, clutching her sword tightly in her hands. She saw the point on the colossus’ back, where two of her strikes had crossed before, creating an X. She wrapped both her hands around the hilt of her sword and gathered the full force of the earth and the sea within it.  
She struck the center of the X, point driving through the stone armor and into the magic within it. Her blade sank up to its hilt, cracks spidering from the break. The colossus jerked forwards, head lolling back limply. With a roar, Monolith ripped her sword free from its back, magic exploding forth from the wound with the sound like a mountain rending in two.  
The air was full of lights, lights and fire. It had suddenly become so hot, the mass release of so much magic, so much energy, shaking everything around it. Monolith was cartwheeling through the air, sword lost from her limp grip. Everything around her was moving in slow motion. The automaton was falling away below her, blown into three pieces by the destruction of its magic. The beast had been slain too many times; the magic that held it together and allowed it to move was gone. It would never rise again.  
There was a sphere, a blob, of black rising from the wreckage. It was floating upwards, edging away from the dais and its destruction…  
 _Dormin._ Monolith’s eyes locked onto the shape and her brain was kickstarted back to attention. She forced energy back into her currently-limp wings, turning to face the fleeing blob.  
Dormin’s soul turned to look behind himself just in time to see the god of the earth and the sea plow into him, throwing him onto the dais like a sack of bricks. The god crashed into the ground after him, claws shredding at his form. He managed to wiggle free from her grip, rolling a few paces from her as she lay on the ground, panting.  
Monolith could feel her legs shaking, even as she was laying on the ground. She had exuded so much of her energy taking that shot, destroying the powerful magic that held the automaton together. Dormin was hunched in a ball just out of her reach, sheltered from Seln as well, thanks to the wall Monolith had put in front of the air spirit. He looked left and right, as if considering his options. Monolith planted her claws in the ground in front of her, growling as she pulled herself towards the soul. He backed away, shadowy form much smaller than before, but still viable.  
“This is not how I imagined this encounter would end,” the shadowy god said, “but I guess we will have to finish this another time, when I get a more proper body. Perhaps I will be able to get my old form back, if I can find the right tools within the Higher Lands.”  
“Oh, if you think you’re getting away, you can think again,” Monolith growled, dragging herself another step towards the soul. Her vision was a little fuzzy, like she was drunk. She gathered her energy again, her vision dimming as she did. One, good strike to Dormin’s exposed soul, to his heart, the faint blue light within him, and it would be over…  
The soul suddenly screamed, jerking back. White metal was through his chest, broken end coated in tendrils of black and blue. The soul convulsed; its heart had been pierced. Dormin was dying.   
His form began to fade away on the edges, like smoke or dust. As he receded, Monolith could see who had finally struck him down. Her white dress swirling around her ankles in the wind coming off the sea, Mono clutched the hilt of the broken remains of the Ancient Sword, its god-touched metal still imbued with magic. Magic capable of killing a god.  
The woman yanked the sword free from the soul, stumbling back and falling to her knees. Dormin collapsed to the ground, twitching as more of himself faded away. Monolith dragged herself up to him, staring at his shrinking form.  
“Struck down…” it whispered. “By a human… by her…” its baleful eyes rolled towards Mono. “I brought you back to life, girl, and this is how you repay me…”  
Mono’s face was hidden behind her hair, slumped over as she was. The small colossus was behind her, watching the scene with emotionless eyes. Likely the responsible party for getting the woman to the dias.  
Monolith looked back down at Dormin. He was almost gone.  
“Wait,” she said, as if he possibly could. “I need one more use of you…”  
She plunged her claws into the remains of his form, calling forth her soul cutting magic. Dormin’s soul made a sound like a balloon deflating, its remains fading into black dust. Monolith raised her hand; there was a throbbing, twitching piece of blue impaled on her claws. She lashed her other hand through it, shredding the shadows from it. All the essences of Dormin she tore from the soul, the small blob slowly losing its color. She shredded it and shredded it until what remained was perfectly clear, like the body of a small jellyfish. It tugged at her claws, the empty soul wanting nothing more but to ascend into the beyond and join its other empty fellows, to be recycling into the newborns of the living. She gripped it tightly in her hand, refusing to let it go.  
“He’s...gone,” Mono whispered, lifting her head. “Is he really gone?”  
Monolith nodded, feeling her hands shaking. “Quickly, I need you to go to Seln’s back and get me one of those items she has. Just something to hold this fragment of soul temporarily.” Mono stared at her dumbly for a moment, and she growled angrily, gesturing towards the body of the air spirit. “I need it! Now! Before I lose hold of this thing!”  
The woman rose and climbed over the ridge around Seln, moving stiffly. She climbed up one of the air spirit’s remaining fins, coming to where she was sheltering the items from the monastery on her back. Seln lifted her head, looking at the woman.  
“Are you ok?” she asked, looking back at the massive creature.  
“Oh, I’ll be fine,” Seln replied, sounding tired and shaky. “Monolith can fix my fin.”  
Mono nodded and knelt, picking up the dusty old book from Seln’s back. She returned to the god’s side and held out the book. Monolith took it and pressed the clear soul against it, willing the two to combine. The soul sank into the pages; the book would hold it, albeit unsteadily, for a short time.  
Monolith exhaled, arms and head dropping to the ground. Ungracefully, she rolled herself onto her back so she could see the sky above her. It was so blue, still half-covered in clouds, but so blue and so beautiful. Mono was visible at the edge of her vision, staring down at her.  
“Could you do me another favor,” Monolith asked quietly, feeling her heavy eyelids. “Would you mind going back and getting the soul forge? I would do it myself, but I’m too tired at the moment…”  
“What do you need it for?” Mono asked. “And that book as well?”  
“To give that dumb colossus its own soul,” the god muttered, gesturing vaguely in the direction of Mono’s ride. “It brought you here and you killed Dormin, so it deserves it. To be a thoughtless automaton no more, but a living creature…Plus, I need to impress your father. I promised him that thing.”  
Mono frowned. “Alright, sir diplomat. I’ll get the forge so you can solicit my father’s goodness. Will you be alright, left out here?”  
“Oh yeah,” Monolith said faintly, waving her hand weakly. “I just need some recovery time...I’ll be back on my feet by the time you get back...just go get the forge.”  
“I’ll be fine too,” Seln called, lifting her head over the ridge. “Go get the thing. The soul fragment won’t be able to stay in that book for very long without a proper binding spell.”  
“Alright,” Mono said, inhaling slowly. “I’ll be back in a moment.” Footsteps on stone heralded her departure. The broken stone that littered the dais crunched under the small colossus’ feet as it padded away, leaving behind nothing but the sound of the wind.  
Monolith shut her eyes, feeling the comfort of the earth and ocean below her. Finally, she could rest, if only just for a moment...  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


	33. Epilogue Pt. 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After all this time, this story is finally over. Does it explain everything? Of course not, but I like to think it gave a lot of substance to a game that was so great because of the mystery of it all - without ruining that mystery. I hope my readers enjoyed! This will be the last you see of Monolith - there's not really anything else I want to do with this arc, after this. I have too many other writings I'm interested in pursuing, and with vet school fast approaching, I'm low on time. But I feel like this story has a satisfying ending - more so than the game, but that's one of the things that made it so great in my eyes. You fought so hard, and you achieved your goal, but not in the way you thought you would. It made the ending unexpectedly powerful.

Epilogue Pt. 1

Monolith pressed the old book against the top of the inverted pyramid, lining it up so the soul would be safely extracted from it. The small colossus was sitting in front of the extruder patiently, watching her with still eyes.  
She winced, limping back to the control panel where her sword was point-down in the metal. “You know, we might break Lord Emon’s soul forge by the end of this. It didn’t hold up well last time we used it.”  
“Horse shit on his soul forge,” Mono muttered, clutching the glass amulet she was wearing around her neck. “He deserves it.”  
“I guess he’ll have to take transferring this soul into his colossus as an excuse,” Monolith said, gripping the hilt of her sword. “What he won’t know won’t hurt him.”  
Mono smiled, looking at the ground. “And what he does hopefully will.”  
Monolith pushed her sword forwards, the forge beginning to splutter. A rune shot out of its side, dancing in the air in a shower of orange sparks. A bolt of lightning hit it, pushing it back into place; Seln had her chin rested upon the ridge that sheltered her, watching the forge carefully and tending to it with her lightning.  
Monolith twisted her sword. The crackling beam between the two pyramids swelled but did not take on any color; with a harsh puff the soul was pushed through the beam, entering the main body of the forge. Seln gathered up the stray energy carefully and returned it to the machine, pink eyes glowing with concern.  
Monolith typed in a few runes with her sword, the extruder filling with swirling energy. The ground vibrated, broken chips of stone dancing upon it. The colossus stared stoically at the extruder, unmoving as it had been ordered to be. Another rune shot out of the machine; Monolith caught it this time, and threw it back in place. The extruder glowed bright, but the light was somehow clear, and she could see through it perfectly. With a clank, the extruder exhaled a pulse of energy that splashed against the colossus like water. The stone chips around the beast were tossed away from it by the faint shockwave the impact created.  
Monolith took her sword off the controls, observing the colossus quizzically. The beast’s head slowly lifted, gaze locking with hers. Its eyes had turned green.  
The god lifted her chin. “Do you know who you are?”  
The colossus didn’t move, eyes drilling back at her. In a voice rough, gravelly, and slow, it said, “Celosia.”  
“You have been given sentience, Celosia,” Monolith told the creature. “In your past lives you were but a thoughtless automaton.”  
“And a book of ancient writings,” the beast replied curiously. “Their pages cascade through my mind.”  
Monolith removed the dusty old book from the top of the soul forge. “From your short stay within this book, I reckon. These writings have become part of your memory.”  
“Sentience…” Celosia repeated, staring away from the god. “You brought me back to life. I remember. You made me this way, after you killed me.”  
“An unfortunate necessity,” Monolith replied, hoping the beast wasn’t too offended. “Do you remember what you were created for?”  
“To house a fragment of Dormin,” Celosia said. “Created, I was, named too, by the ancient lords. That all happened so long ago.”  
“And you shall continue to serve those lords’ descendents,” Monolith told the beast. “That is your duty. With your own thoughts, you shall be more than just a tool. I could not stand to let you go to them as such.”  
“Hoping they will be impressed,” Celosia muttered. “Indeed. I will serve the new lords. I was created to do so.”  
The colossus moved away from the soul forge, feet heavy against the ground. Mono, who was sitting on Seln’s ridge, looked at them nervously as they passed. Celosia stopped and looked up at her with their piercing green eyes.  
“Trust me, you do not,” the beast noted. “You rode me into battle before I was self-aware. What difference does this make now? A horse is just as self-aware as I.”  
“You are going to my father, who wants me dead,” the woman replied quietly. “It is none of my business, but we cannot be considered friends.”  
Celosia cocked their head. “But I am sentient and I make my own decisions. And I think you do not deserve to be hurt. The ancient writings which make up a part of me tell me that violence is nothing but a curse. I will chastise your father for wanting to kill you.”  
“Perhaps it would be best not to mention me to him,” Mono replied nervously.  
Celosia dipped their head. “If you wish.”  
“Oh, great,” Seln called from the ridge. “You’ve turned the colossus into a monk.”  
Celosia looked slowly at the larger colossus. “And I see you have turned into a sassy child, Phalanx.”  
“Hey, the name’s Seln,” the air spirit replied hotly. “But Phalanx is still in here. They are very happy flying with me, thank you very much!”  
“Mono,” Monolith called. “I am ready for the charm.”  
The woman’s eyes got a little wider and she gripped at the amulet around her neck. Slowly, she pushed herself off the ridge and approached the god, face nervous. Celosia took a seat at the base of the ridge, safely outside the circle surrounding the soul forge.  
“I am comforted to know Phalanx yet lives,” the small colossus said to Seln. “That you have not cruelly destroyed their essence.”  
“Oh,” Seln muttered a bit shyly. “We, uh...we did destroy two of them. In self defense.”  
“I see,” Celosia rumbled. They were silent for a moment. “Considering this body’s own history of violence, I can understand why one would need to reach to such lengths in self-defense.” They looked up to Seln. “Great power you have brought to Phalanx,” they said. “We have been given a great gift, you and I. And the texts tell me to appreciate gifts without question.”  
Mono stopped before Monolith, still holding the charm in her hands. She was looking down, face shadowed by her hair.  
“I really appreciate this,” she said quietly. “I’m not sure what to expect. I want to do this, but at the same time…”  
“It feels wrong,” Monolith finished her sentence. “I understand. But sometimes we have to do what seems wrong to achieve a right, or undo another wrong. It is up to us to determine if the journey is worth the destination. They are nothing without each other.”  
“It’s worth it,” Mono said quietly, lifting her clasped hands to her mouth. She rested there for a moment, eyes shut, and then looked up at the god. Slowly, she held her hands out, opening them to reveal the glass charm, flickering with its beautiful light.  
“I think I finally figured you two out,” Monolith said with a faint chuckle. She took the charm from the woman, holding it gently in her hand.  
Mono ducked her head, turning a little red. “I know I’m supposed to be out of reach of someone like him...me, the daughter of a lord, and he, a stable boy and a serviceman at the iron foundries…”  
Monolith held up her free hand. “Gods have no social classes, or at least won’t admit they do. And I firmly no longer believe in systems like that. You love who you want.” She cut the thin metal chain free from the amulet with a stroke of a claw. “Speaking of such, there is a quite healthy patch of god’s-root thistle growing in the gardens above the Shrine. Makes really nice tea; I can attest to it. I would try some too, unless you want to care for a baby again.”  
Mono turned bright red and ducked her head. “You really had to go there..!”  
Monolith frowned. “Of course I did. We gave humans god’s-root thistle for a reason. You’re welcome, I should add; overpopulation is not a joke.”  
Mono was still bright red; she flapped her hand at the god, shooing her away. “Go, go do your stupid thing.”  
“I happen to need you to come with me this time,” Monolith replied. The woman looked up in surprise, eyes nervously flickering to the forge, which was puffing smoke at random intervals.  
“Are you sure?” she asked, wide-eyed. The redness rapidly left her face.  
Monolith nodded, stepping back to the control panel. “You are the only one here who knew your rescuer. I need to access your memories to reform his body. You knew him best.”  
“Wander,” she said quietly. “His name was, is Wander.”  
Monolith inclined her head. “You can trust me that you will not get hurt. If the machine reflects energy onto us, I will block it. Seln is also here; she won’t let you get hurt.”  
“We’ve got you!” Seln said cheerfully, pink eyes glowing happily. “This is so exciting! I love stories that have good endings!”  
“Don’t speak too soon,” Monolith chuckled. “This could still go very wrong.”  
“Don’t ruin the mood!” Seln yelled.  
Mono took a deep breath. “And...I forgive you for what you said before, Monolith. And I am sorry for what I said. It was Dormin talking through both of us...but even still, I should have been stronger.” She shut her eyes. “I promise I will do better in the future, to be true to who I am and who I should be. So now, what do you need me to do?”  
Monolith looked to her. “Think of him, of your strongest memories. Think of who he was, what he looked like.” She reached out and placed her hand against the woman’s forehead. “Remember him. Remember Wander.”  
“He said he would wear his best to my funeral,” the woman said quietly. “His best wasn’t much compared to court attire, but he was so true in his intentions. That’s how I remember him the most.”  
Monolith shut her eyes, feeling for the woman’s most present thoughts. He was there, in such a clear picture. The air was so heavy with the scents of mixed emotions, and she could feel them too in her thoughts. They both wanted to set things right.  
But was this really the right thing to do?  
Monolith opened her eyes and looked into the sky. She remembered that tiny child, with his tiny horns. She had made that decision to get to here, to where she needed to be. It was time to finish her journey.  
“I, Monolith, god of the earth and sea, call upon the earth as my witness,” she commanded, feeling the energy that flowed around her. “Though earth looks different from water, and water from air, they are one and the same. Matter is matter, energy is energy, but energy is also matter and matter is also energy, and through me I control and exchange them. I call upon the matter and energy of the earth to not only witness but to become my spell and my will. I am recreating this living body, like I created two living bodies of stone, but this of the true material of life, flesh and blood and bone.”  
Magic was settling around them, like many great rings of light.  
She held out the charm and placed it on the top of the inverted pyramid. Hand now free, she summoned her sword and placed it against the control panel. “I make as remembered, as remembered by this mortal woman who stands with me. True to original, true to form, true to nature. I promise to the earth who witnesses this that I am not breaking the sacred laws of nature; contained within this charm is the soul and memories, the essence, of Wander. He never died; his soul never left this plain. On my own life, I swear this.”  
She pushed her sword forwards, and the forge whirred to life once more. The charm atop it glowed brightly, flickering from within. The light sank through the surface, passing through the converter with a buzz. Monolith held her breath, but the machine held true. A rune tried to sneak its way out of the paneling, but Seln caught it with a gentle puff of air. Never once did Monolith’s hands leave their places on Mono’s forehead and the hilt of her sword; she was the connection, the living bridge, between what was and what was coming to be. She was surrounded by the energy of the earth and the sea, which all pulsed with the power of life.  
The extruder was expanding, warping and changing shape almost as if it was becoming fluid. Shocks like electricity were beginning to clutch at Monolith’s arms, making her muscles seize. Mono, eyes still shut, had her face pulled into a grimace.  
Monolith’s body was locked in place; she couldn’t move. The feeling was edging onto painful, like needles were being pushed into her hands and slowly moving up her arms. Another rune danced its way out of the forge, but Seln caught it without missing a beat.  
The ground in front of the extruder was beginning to tremble. The air was beginning to tremble; the light from the sun was beginning to tremble. Matter and energy were being drawn together, and the extruder glowed as bright as the stars.  
Monolith howled in pain at the sudden surge of energy, head jerking back and lips peeling away from her teeth. She had become a conduit for energy, but not just that; she was a conduit for life, and even though the feeling stabbed like knives, it all seemed to take a background position to her own exhilaration. _To create life is to be what it means to be a god!_  
The extruder expelled its energy with a screech of metal tearing against metal. The energy joined what had materialized before it, surrounding it in brilliant light.  
The feeling returned to Monolith’s arms and she dropped to her knees, head spinning. Mono stumbled backwards, not stopping until she was safely outside the circle. The god’s sword fell from the control panel, clanking against the ground. The forge emitted a massive puff of smoke and shot probably eleven runes out of itself; instead of hovering in the air like they usually did, they bounced away from the forge, plowing into the ground as deformed lumps of metal. With a shudder, the inverted pyramid slid down the side of its base, snapping the electrical beam that connected it to the latter. The energy discharged in a loud crackle; Seln yelped and quickly dragged the electricity towards herself before it could reach anyone. With a cough, she spat the energy towards the sea, where it made the water steam on impact.  
Emitting a final puff of smoke, the soul forge died, remaining runes going dark.  
Monolith slowly looked up from the ground, removing her hands from her head. Shakily, she pushed herself up, looking across the soul forge.  
There was a young man over there, staring at his hands with a look of absolute shock.  
She flopped back onto the ground, once again feeling exhausted. “Oh good. It worked.”  
~


	34. Epilogue Pt.2

Epilogue Pt. 2

The man looked over at the sound of the god’s voice; his eyes got really wide and he took a step back, hand instinctively dropping to his belt as if going for a weapon.  
“Hi!” Seln said, peering over her ridge. “My name is Seln! I’m so excited to finally meet you!”  
Seeing one of the colossi looming behind him (and not only that, but hearing it talk in a strangely cheerful voice too) was definitely not what the man expected, because he yelped and fell on his butt upon turning around. Seln immediately looked very sorry, head quickly retracting behind her ridge.  
Monolith heard footsteps; Mono went marching past her, fists balled. The god reached after her, trying to say something, but her voice had no more power than a puff of dust. Wander looked up, hearing the same footsteps, and his face turned as white as Mono’s dress.  
The woman stopped, looming above the young man. She puffed her chest out, inhaling. “You,” she thundered, “are an idiot!”  
Celosia looked away, ducking their head. “Aye, the texts speak of such difficulties of love. The word idiot is quite fitting.” It sounded like the colossus was trying to talk to itself, but didn’t know how to speak quiet enough. Seln, from behind her ridge, snorted humorously.  
“...Sorry?” Wander said sheepishly, looking up at Mono.  
She took another staggering inhale. “I cannot believe you stole from my father’s collection of artifacts, became a wanted criminal, stole a horse, STOLE MY DEAD BODY, escaped from my father somehow, managed to make it to this damned land, managed to defeat all sixteen colossi, and nearly brought doom upon all this world, getting turned into a baby in the process... I…” she stopped, fuming, apparently out of words to say.  
Wander looked up at her with huge eyes. “Do you still..?”  
Mono raised an eyebrow. “Love you?” she reached down and grabbed the front of Wander’s shirt, hauling him to his feet with surprising strength. “Of course I do, you idiot.” And with that, she kissed him, pressing her lips against his as tears rolled down her cheeks.  
Monolith looked away respectfully. She pushed herself off the ground, or at least tried to. Unsteady, she grabbed her sword, planting it into the stone as a crutch. Leaning on her blade, she managed to get back onto her feet. In the strenuous time it had taken her to learn how to stand again, the reunited couple had broken apart. Mono was still gripping Wander’s shirt like he would fade away if she let go.  
“Thanks for doing all this for me,” she said quietly. She reached out and rested her hand against his cheek. “I can finally thank you in person.”  
Wander put his hands on hers. “Thank you for not being too mad at me. I knew you wouldn’t approve.” His expression changed a little, and his hand moved off Mono’s. His fingers touched against the rough, black surface of the horns projecting from his skull, just below his hairline, and his eyes widened. “I still…”  
“Once possessed, always marked,” Monolith spoke up. “As much as I can do, I can’t get rid of that from your soul, not without you having to sacrifice a part of it. I thought I would leave that choice up to you.”  
Wander looked over to her and she narrowed her eyes slightly. So this was the human that defeated the sixteen colossi before her? Hmph. She had been expecting someone more...impressive.  
Oh well. Humans had a way of surpassing expectations.  
“You did this,” he said, looking at his hands. “I have no idea who you are but...I...I have faint memories of you. But you looked...different before.”  
“I regained the pieces of my shattered soul by defeating the sixteen colossi a second time over,” Monolith replied, lifting her chin. “I met Seln on my journey and transfixed her soul to the body of the colossus of her choice.” She gestured to where Seln was failing at hiding. “She was just as integral to this as I was.”  
Wander looked cautiously back to the ridge, where Seln’s pink eye was just barely peeking over. “I must thank the both of you, then. This is so...unbelievable…”  
“Sorry I scared you,” Seln squeaked, lifting her head a little bit. “I sometimes forget I’m very large now.”  
“It’s ok,” Mono said. “Wander’s just a wuss.”  
Wander looked at her with wide eyes. “Hey!”  
Mono snorted, covering her mouth. “Kidding, kidding. Nobody can call you a wuss after what you did here.”  
Monolith looked to her right, hearing heavy footsteps. Celosia had walked up to her, staring at her with their unblinking green gaze. “Would you mind telling me about the lord I am to serve?” they asked. “I would like to know if he is intelligent, noble, and true, as the texts say our rulers should be. If he is not, then it is even more integral that I bring my teachings to him and his people.”  
“We can talk about him on the way to his city,” Monolith replied, kneeling to gather up the remains of the broken soul forge. “But I can assure you, though some of his decisions were made in error, he is one of the most intelligent humans I have ever met. He acts to protect his people. What can be more noble and true?”  
Celosia looked away, pondering. “A ruler can be judged by how he treats his servants. But indeed, what you say is true.”  
Monolith strode up to the ridgetop. Seln lay on the other side, still crippled from her fight with Dormin. She lifted her head, looking down at Monolith as she approached.  
“Let’s get you fixed up,” the god said. “We need to get Celosia to Lord Emon so I can have no more agreements with that man. Nothing can tie me to this world when I ascend to the Higher Lands, for I do not know when I will return.”  
Seln cocked her head with the sound of grinding stones. “I can come with you, Monolith, if you’d like...but you’re going to find the souls of Dormin’s followers, right?”  
The god nodded. “You are not the warring type, Seln. I think it would be better for you to stay here, in this mortal world. What I am going to do will be...dark. But it must be done. Justice must be served.”  
“You can be merciful,” Seln reasoned. “Dormin was the center of his evil, and with him gone, and so much time passed, many of his own may have found the strength to repent. Please, the war has been over for thousands of years. Don’t leave more fire and death behind where you walk.”  
Monolith looked away. “You are so innocent, Seln. I wish it was that easy.”  
Seln’s eyes flared. “But it is that easy. You felt bad about killing the colossus who’s body I now inhabit because it could not defend itself. You sorrowed for the fate of the ghosts in the monastery. Instead of looking at Dormin’s followers the same way, think of them like those ghosts. Trapped somewhere, and unable to do anything.”  
Monolith shut her eyes. “I...I fear if I let them go, they will return as the next force of darkness. But perhaps you are right. Perhaps I can imprison them until the gods can reorganize and hold a proper trial. Would that make you happy?”  
Seln nodded. “Yes, yes it would.”  
Monolith hopped over onto the air spirit’s back. “Alright. Stay still. This will take a few minutes.”  
She called into the earth, the dark carved-stone around them. Rubble floated from below, wet with sea spray and past rainstorms. Guiding them with her hands, they shaped themselves into the form of Seln’s severed fin. The new limb attached to her body, melding with the lighter-colored stone around it. Her ruptured gasbags, ragged edges fluttering in the breeze, began to pulse. Sand, grains from the decay of all the stone around them, began to congeal over the breaks, glowing warmly. The masses turned white, and the gasbags re-sealed. Slowly, the air spirit began to push herself from the ground, holding herself up on her fins. Her body slowly rose and she drifted backwards, moving around the ridge and to the base of the ruined dais. She reached out with a fin and touched it to the dais itself, forming a bridge to her body.  
Monolith moved to her shoulder and gestured to the figures below. “Come on up. We have places to be.”  
Celosia bounded up the air spirit’s fin first, pausing to look around and admire their newfound view. After them came Wander and Mono, hands clasped tightly. Seln lifted her fin from the ground as they crossed over to her shoulder. She drifted upwards, over the tall cliffs surrounding the dais. The waves washed against its broken base, stones and rubble still drifting around in the currents. Monolith watched it recede away, imagining she could still see the broken body of the automaton somewhere down there.  
“Your foe is vanquished,” Celosia said, coming to sit next to the god. “But your expression tells me there is much more to do.”  
“Of course,” Monolith replied. “My people, my old friends, are scattered, most of them still bodiless. My home is smoldering ruins, and our place on this mortal earth is not much better. And Dormin’s supporters live on, as does his fabled utopia. There are more ends to meet, though I do not think they will be nearly as trialsome as these were.”  
The colossus dipped their head. “I will be sure to encourage Lord Emon’s support for you. The texts speak of unity over all.” They looked out over the sea, eyes following the sunlight as it reflected off the water. “Unity is everlasting.”  
Seln began to descend, having passed over the high cliffs and into the sprawling valley. The ocean slipped away from view, replaced by the rising stone and the great, double doors, sitting open quietly.  
Monolith looked towards the doors. “Oh, we almost forgot.” She let out a piercing whistle which reverberated off the cliffs, stirring the air like a faint breeze. Seln slowed down, drifting closer to the ground.  
With a high whinny, Agro came galloping through the doors, running at full tilt like there was a pack of wolves after her. Dirt was kicked up in great clumps by her churning hooves; she pulled alongside Seln, looking up at her with bright eyes.  
Monolith looked over at Wander, who’d gone pale again, staring down at the horse with a look of utter shock. “Is...it that..?” he couldn’t finish his sentence.  
“You know, I’m quite convinced your horse is immortal by this point,” Monolith joked. “She saved my life more than once.”  
Seln hummed happily, drifting just feet above the ground. Agro galloped behind her pectoral fins, running right next to her.   
Wander stared at her with teary eyes. “I can’t believe she survived…” he looked over at Monolith and Celosia. “I never thought things would turn out like this.”  
“Magic has a strange way of creating unprecedented things,” Monolith replied. “And there is no magical place on this earth greater than what is here.”   
“The good unknowns are best taken without question, just thankfulness,” Celosia quoted. “Heavenly favor may shine on us all, but we shall never see it.”  
Monolith snorted, crossing her arms. “I can tell you all about so-called heavenly favor…”  
Wander suddenly vaulted off Seln’s back, interrupting her train of thought. He landed on Agro’s saddle, grabbing onto her mane. The horse swerved away from Seln, absorbing his impact. He sat down and grabbed the reins, an expression of pure joy on his face.  
“You’ve done a good thing here,” Celosia rumbled, looking at Monolith.  
“And to think I considered killing Mono, to “set things right” as they were before,” she replied quietly. “It would have been easy. The natural cycle had been disrupted. I could have resolved the disruption then and there. But I didn’t. I chose the longer path.”  
“A path we still walk,” the colossus rumbled, looking up at the sky. “It is so beautiful out here, Monolith. I could never see the world like this before.”  
“Just wait until you see the wider world,” the god promised. “It is amazing out there.”  
“I can’t wait to see it either.” Mono walked over and sat on the other side of Monolith. “I never got to go much beyond my father’s city. But I read all about the places of this world.”  
“You and Wander will have to be careful,” Monolith cautioned. “People are superstitious, and he marked.”  
Mono chuckled, waving her fingers. “Nothing a simple illusion spell won’t fix.”  
Monolith nodded. “Correct you are. I am sure I can find a god with the right magic to help you out.”  
Mono nodded, watching Wander galloping Agro across the plains. “Yeah...while you were fixing Seln, we decided we’re not going to try and remove his horns.” She looked up at the god. “I know you would help us out if we asked, and we’re very thankful for that, but that mark is anchored in his soul. Getting rid of it would require losing a part of him as well. We...we don’t think it’s worth it.”  
“Such wisdom of the young,” Celosia said, sounding near fond.   
“I respect your decision,” Monolith told the woman. They were silent for a moment.  
“Where will you go after all this?” she asked.  
Monolith looked away, to the white steps of the Ascent above them. “I must return to the Higher Lands and begin to rebuild. We must bring Dormin’s supporters to trial. And then...I must go to his fabled utopia and see if it still stands. And if it does, I must bring it down. Only then will everything be set right.”  
Mono nodded. “Will we see you again?”  
“Of course!” the god exclaimed. “You are always welcome in the Shrine. Make it your home, even.”  
“I think we might take you up on that,” the woman replied. “At least until we have somewhere else to go.”  
Seln floated down to the steps of the Shrine, extending her fins to touch the earth. Wander rode up to the end of her fin and pulled Agro to a halt. Mono stood, moving to the base of Seln’s fin.  
Monolith bowed her head. “This is where we part, my lady.”  
Mono smiled. “I will see you soon, Monolith. You better stop by before you head back to the Higher Lands.”  
“Of course,” the god said graciously. The woman nodded and stepped off of Seln’s back. She descended her fin in careful steps.  
Monolith glanced at Celosia. “Ready to go to your new home?”  
The colossus nodded. “Indeed. I am.”  
Mono stepped off of Seln’s fin. The air spirit drifted away from her, rising slowly. She turned to look at the two humans, pink eyes shining with emotion.  
“I’ll miss you!” she squeaked.   
Mono laughed, waving. “It’ll only be a few days!” She stepped next to Agro, reaching up to take Wander’s hand.  
Monolith lifted her hand in a gesture of farewell, but found suddenly that she could not speak. She had regained her life, her entire being with these people, even if it really hadn’t seemed that way. A few days apart would seem like years. She smiled faintly at the couple.  
She would see them again. But for now, their paths diverged. She had a new destination to chase.  
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End file.
